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In the tumulus at Dowth, which is close to that of New Grange, Ireland, is entirely of the same character and period as the ship symbols found in Egypt with rayed figures and quartered circles, obviously solar emblems, occur abundantly, as also at Loughcrew and other places in Ireland, and one other ship figure has been identified at Dowth.
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# 701: The European dragon was often synonymous with the Ouroboros or Earth Serpent. In Brittany he was 'the dragon of the Bretons.' Each May Day, it was said, he uttered a terrible scream that could be heard underneath every hearth fire, demanding burial of a tub of mead as an offering to him. The official emblem of Wales is still the red dragon, derived from the Great Red Serpent that once represented the old Welsh god Dewi.
# 161: The Celtic dragon represents sovereignty, power or a chief, such as Pendragon, the Celtic word meaning 'chief'. The Red Dragon of Cadwallader or Cadwaller is the emblem of Wales - 'upon a mount vert, a dragon passant, wings expanded and endorsed gules - the Red Dragon Dreadful'. It was blazed on King Arthur's helmet in battle, later it was associated with Geoffrey of Monmouth and Owen Glendower. The Saxons had the white dragon as a royal standard. In early Britain it depicted supreme power.
The Heraldic dragon varies greatly, especially in the shape of its ears, but the wings are always those of a bat; the tongue and tail can be barbed; it breathes out fire and is a symbol of power, wisdom and one who has overcome an adversary or fortress. The Tudor Red Dragon indicates Welsh origins. Dragon Tygre and Dragon-Wolf are composite creatures and support the arms of the City of London.
# 454: The Dragon appears in much more than its classical forms within British mythology. It is sometimes a worm and is derived from northern European prototypes (Lindorm). It is sometimes a waterserpent or monster. In all instances, the dragon exemplifies elemental power, especially of the earth. The dragon which Saint George overcomes is symbolic of paganism, but such obvious symbolism overlays a great deal more subtle imagery. The two dragons which Merlin Emrys releases from under Vortigern's tower are emblematic of the vitality of the land which is chaotic unless tamed or wielded by a true ruler. In a story about the origin of Samhain Eve we read that the dragon is symbolic of the Cailleach who holds the power of winter over Brigit's lamb, symbolic of spring. See also: DRAKE, SIR FRANCIS.
# 100: The Dragon slain by St George was an heraldic dragon, wit bat's wings, a sting in its tail and fiery breath. We find it in some of the English fairy-tales, and it is to be seen in church carvings and in many of the Italian pictures of St George, such as the Carpaccio painting, where the dragon is pathetically small. Most of the British dragons, however, are Worms after the Scandinavian pattern, wingless, generally very long, with a poisonous rather than a fiery breath and self-joining. Nearly all the Celtic dragons are worms. Worms and dragons have some traits in common. Both are scaly, both haunt wells or pools, both are avid for maidens and particularly princesses, both are treasure-hoarders and are extremely hard to kill. It seems as if the model on which both are founded is the fossilized remains on prehistoric monsters. In England there are legends of a few winged, fiery dragons, the Dragon of Kingston for instance, who 'cooked his meat to a turn' according to the tradition picked up by Ruth Tongue in 1911 from Cothelstone harvesters and recorded in COUNTY FOLK-LORE, VOL.VIII. He was choked by a great boulder rolled down the ridge into his mouth as he opened it to belch out flames. The Dragon of Wantley was a true dragon, typical in his attributes, behaviour and the method of killing him, though this was also used against worms. A condensed version of the rhymed account given by Harland and Wilkinson in LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS OF LANCASHIRE is representative. One item worth noting is the anointing of the champion by a black-haired maiden, for maidens played a large part in the dragon legends: This dragon was the terror of all the countryside. He had fourty-four iron teeth, and a long sting in his tail, besides his strong rough hide and fearful wings. He ate trees and cattle, and once he ate three young children at one meal. Fire breathed from his nostrils, and for long no man dared come near him. Near to the dragon's den lived a strange knight named More of More Hall, of whom it was said that so great was his strenght that he had once seized a horse by its mane and tail, and swung it round and round till it was dead, because it had angered him. Then, said the tale, he had eaten the horse, all except its head. At last the people of the place came to More Hall in a body, and with tears implored the knight to free them from the fearful monster, which was devouring all their food, and making them go in terror of their lives. They offered him all their remaining goods if he would do them this service. But the knight said he wanted nothing except one black-haired maid of sixteen, to anoint him for the battle at night, and array him in his armour in the morning. When this was promised, he went to Sheffield, and found a smith who made him a suit of armour set all over with iron spikes, each five or six inches in length. Then he hid in a well, where the dragon used to drink, and as it stooped to the water, the knight put up his head with a shout and struck it a great blow full in the face. But the dragon was upon him, hardly checked by the blow, and for two days and a night they fought without either inflicting a wound upon the other. At last, as the dragon flung himself at More with the intention of tossing him high into the air, More succeeded in planting a kick in the middle of its back. This was the vital spot: the iron spike drove into the monster's flesh so far, that it spun round and round in agony groaning and roaring fearfully, but in a few minutes all was over, it collapsed into a helpless heap, and died.
The Serpent of Handale in Yorkshire seems to have been half-way between a serpent and a dragon, for it had fiery breath and a venomous sting. It was a devourer of maidens, and a young man called Scaw killed it to rescue an earl's daughter. The dragon, who haunted Winlatter Rock in Derbyshire was said to be the Devil himself, taking that form, and was driven off by a monk who planted himself on the rock with his arms outstretched in the shape of a cross. So great was his concentration that his feet sank deep into the rock and left the impression of two holes there. In the second part of the tale, a concerted effort of the neighbouring villagers drove off the dragon. He sought refuge down Blue John Mine and the Derbyshire springs have tasted sulphurous and warm ever since.
# 725: Aldrovandus gives fifty-nine folio pages to dragons, and turns up much interesting material in the process. He deals with humans of the name of Draco, with sea-serpents, tarantulas, plants, trees, stars, devils, quicksilver, mountains, traps, fistulae, sirens, Hydras, anacondas, whales, leviathan, fossils, heiroglyphs and even with an early form of aircraft called a Dragon, though not manufactured by De Havilland, which flew. He adds that it is possible for unscrupulous people to forge a dragon, by plastic surgery on the cadaver of a Giant Ray. But his main point is that the words 'dragon' and 'serpent' are interchangeable. He points out that the reptile which attacked Laocoon is called by Virgil a serpent in one place and a dragon in another. 'Why', wrote Kingsley in 1849, 'should not these dragons have been simply what the Greek word dragon means-what ...the superstitions of the peasantry in many parts of England to this day assert them to have been- "mighty worms", huge snakes?' This is the proper way to regard them. 'Dragon' was simply the medieval word for a large reptile, and the more one regards it as not being a joke from the fairy stories, the more interesting the tales about the Dragons may prove to be.
# 49: Welsh Dragon Lore: Dragon stories can be found in many parts of Wales and it would seem that they played a large part in the folklore of the Middle Ages. Many of the stories seem to have some connection with the origin of ancient sites of worship. Church paintings and carvings traditionally interpret the dragon killings as a symbolic battle between the forces of good and evil. The Christian heroes were generally knights in shining armour such as St George and St Michael, and they always managed to slay their dragons after long and dangerous battles. The mythical dragons were often given the responsibility of guarding treasure secretly hidden in deep caverns in wildest Wales. Even up to the end of the nineteenth century there were country folk who firmly believed in their existence. In the Vale of Neath there was a story of a dragon or winged serpent that was thought to frequent the area near the waterfalls of the Pyrrdin, Mellte, and Hepste Rivers. It concealed itself in the rocky gorges around Pont Nedd Fechan and apparently made a general nuisance of itself in the neighbourhood. Trelech at Bettws in Dyfed was once the home of a winged serpent. It was usually seen on or near a tumulus known as Crug Ederyn. When this was excavated a stone-lined grave covered with rough slabs was found. It was reputed to be the grave of Ederyn, an early prince or chieftain of Wales. - Dragons and winged serpents were also reported around Lleyn and Penmaenmawr in Gwynedd, the ravines of the Berwyn Mountains, Cadair Idris, the wilds of Cardigan (Dyfed), Radnor Forest (Powys), the Brecon Beacons, the marches of Carmarthen and Worm's Head, Gower. In South Glamorgan, Llancarfan was haunted by several winged serpents and reptiles. The woods near Penllyne Castle concealed winged serpents which terrorized the neighbourhood. An eye witness described them as very beautiful, saying: 'Some of them had crests sparkling with all the colours of the rainbow. When disturbed they glided swiftly, sparkling all over, to their hiding places. When angry they flew over people's heads with outspread wings like feathers in a peacock's tail.' He denied that it was an old story to frighten children but insisted that it was fact. His father and uncles had actually killed some of them for they were 'as bad as foxes for poultry'. - Stories of winged serpents were told in the neighbourhood of Radnor Forest and several parts of North Wales; they were exterminated by local farmers. It is of interest that the Griffin, like the dragon, once had a prominent place in the folklore of Wales. The strange beasts is often depicted on inn signs and such names as The Griffin or even Three Griffins were popular for wayside pubs in the nineteenth century.
We end this chapter of dragons, with a briefing from Janet Hoult's DEFINITION OF THE DRAGON.
# 323: The dragon is a well known symbol all over the world, and although there are slight variations in its usual depiction (i.e. basically that of a large lizard with ears and wings), several main features are constant throughout. As the symbol is so widespread, I wondered when I first started to research the subject whether dragons could have actually existed on the earth at some time in the past, but had now become extinct. However, several years further on, I have found that there is no evidence for a theory of that kind at all. Dragons are not even a race memory dating back to the days of the cavemen and their encounters with dinosaurs, as over 60 million years separate the end of the dinosaur age with the beginning of mankind. In previous centuries the case for dragons, as with many other mythical beasts, was more plausible, for nature was accepted unquestioningly as the work of God, existing solely for the use of teaching of man, and stories of fabulous foreign beasts, although only dubious hearsay, were taken as truth. Early discoveries of fossilised dinosaur bones, and travellers' tales of Komodo dragons would have added further proof. Medieval bestiary writers such as Topsell, Gesner and Aldrovandi knew people who knew other people who had seen a dragon, and there was a thriving trade in fake baby dragons. These 'Jenny Hanivers' as they were called were lizards with bats' wings attached to them, and were imported from several countries, those from Japan being considered the best. The Anglo-Saxon word 'drakan' is probably a Greek derivative, either from 'draco' meaning a dragon or large snake, or from the verb 'derkein', which means to see clearly. Dragons were credited with clear sight, wisdom and the ability to foretell the future.
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The curious natural formation below the white horse of Uffington is said to mark the site where St George killed the dragon. The top of the hill is said to have been so poisoned by the blood of the dragon that it will no longer grow vegetation - in fact the top soil has long been eroded, to leave the chalk surface open to the skies. From historically-based mythologies we learn that the founder of the West Saxon kingdom, Cerdic, slew Natanleod at this spot, along with 5,000 of his soldiers. Natanleod was called the 'Pendragon'.
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(1540-96) The first circumnavigator of the world who fought against the Spanish Armada, he has passed into legend as a hero possessed of supernatural powers. The Spanish called him El Draco (The Dragon), and the luck which attended his daring exploits certainly pointed to special guidance. The drum which accompanied him on his circumnavigation is kept at Buckland Abbey; it can be heard beating when England is endangered. Moreover, Drake is supposed to be only sleeping like Arthur, and will rise at his country's need.
# 454
(1563-1631) See: DIMINUTIVE FAIRIES.
In the Andaman Islands, the Oku-Jumu ('dreamers'), who functioned as medicine men, came into possession of their spiritual powers by consorting with spirits in the jungle, by dreaming , or by dying and returning to life. Similarly, in the early Celtic epics of the British Isles, those heroes who, when riding through a forest, allow themselves to be led into the pursuit of some visionary beast, presently find themselves inside the fairy hills, engaged in adventures of a timeless, dreamlike surreality. For the forest speaks to deeper centers than do city streets. And for those people in our time who have never been quite convinced of the high importance of the deeds and gossip of the marketplace or village compound, the exitement of the imagination that a forest fastness or a wild seacoast can awaken may become an irresistible fascination, leading in the end to a transformed life.
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The fairies of Britain vary as much in dress as they do in appearance and size. Most people, asked off-hand about the colour of the fairies' clothes, would answer 'green' without hesitation, and they would not be far astray. Green is generally acknowledged to be the fairy colour, particularly in Celtic countries, and for this reason is so unlucky that many Scotswomen refuse to wear green at all. Red runs green very close, and in Ireland the small trooping fairies, the Daoine Sidh and the Shefro, wear green coats and red caps while the solitary fairies, such as the Leprachauns, the Cluricaun and the Fear Dearg, generally wear red. William Allingham describes Wee folk, good folk, trooping all together, Green jacket, red cap and white owl's feather. This seems to be the typical costume of the small trooping fairies.
The Lil' Fellas of Man, about three feet in height, are described by Sophia Morrison as wearing green coats and red caps,or occasionally leather ones on hunting expeditions.Their hunting dogs were of all fancy colours, green, blue, red. Red caps were very common for all kinds of the homelier fairies. Even the Merrow in Crofton Croker's story wore a red cap to enable him to go through the sea to a dry land under it, and gave a similar one to his human friend, which had to be thrown back when he returned to land. Red, blue and white caps were used in various stories of fairy levitation. Grigs, little South Country fairies, wore red caps. A Cluricaune of the Abbey Lubber type is described by Crofton Croker as wearing a red nightcap, a leather apron, long light-blue stockings and high-heeled, buckled shoes. Even the mourners at the Fairy Funeral in Bowker's GOBLIN TALES OF LANCASHIRE, though they were sombrely clad otherwise, wore bright red caps. The green-clad fairy ladies enjoyed a touch of red as much as the fairy men, but they introduced it in their slippers, like the little lady in 'The Fairies of Merlin's crag' from Gibbing's FOLKLORE AND LEGENDS, SCOTLAND, who was eighteen inches high, with long golden hair hanging to her waist, a long green dress and slippers. The tiny fairy gentleman who wooed Anne Jefferies was too much of a dandy to wear a red cap, but he brightened his green clothing by a red feather in his hat. In Somerset the fairies are said to wear red, and the rougher Pixies green. This is the opposite way round to the Irish colour scheme. Elves wear green. Many of the Green Ladies of Scotland were connected with the dead, and so naturally wore green, for green is the Celtic colour of death. The Silkies of the North of England generally wore glistening white silk, the White Ladies of Man wore white satin, and the Tylwyth Teg of Wales wore white. Isobel Gowdie, the self-confessed witch who gave a vivid account of her Traffic With The Fairies, described the Fairy Queen rather prosaically: 'The Qwein of Fearrie is brawlie clothed in whyt linens, and in whyt and browne cloathes.'
A Fairy Queen whose visit to a Galloway cottage is described in J. F. Campbell's POPULAR TALES OF THE WEST HIGHLANDS, VOL.II, was more glamorous: She was very magnificently attired; her dress was of the richest green, embroidered round with spangles of gold, and on her head was a small coronet of pearls... One of the children put out her hand to get hold of the grand lady's spangles, but told her mother afterwards that she felt nothing. This magnificent vision came on a prosaic errand; she wanted to borrow a bowl of oatmeal. In the Celtic legend of ST COLLEN AND THE FAIRY KING, blue is introduced with red; the king's pages wear liveries of scarlet and blue, impolitely denounced by the saint as, 'Blue for the eternal cold and red for the flames of hell.' Manx fairies sometimes wore blue. In Gill's SECOND MANX SCRAPBOOK we are told of a little gnomish man seen between Ramsey and Milntown, about two feet high, - 'wearing a red cap and a long blue coat with bright buttons, white hair and bushy whiskers. Face very wrinckled. Very bright, very kind eyes, carrying a small but very bright lantern.' In Jenkinson's GUIDE TO THE ISLE OF MAN, 1876, he reports being told by a farmer's wife that her mother always maintained that she had actually seen the fairies, and described them as young girls with 'scaly, fish-like hands and blue dresses'. The little mouse-sized fairies in the Suffolk story of Brother Mike wore blue coats, yellow breeches and little red caps. The fairies described by a friend to Walter Gill as seen in Glen Aldyn were greyish all over, something the colour of a fungus, a foot to eighteen inches high. The earthbound Trow in Shetland was also grey. A sombre note is struck too in Hugh Miller's account in THE OLD RED SANDSTONE of the departure of the fairies: the horses 'shaggy diminutive things, speckled dun and grey, the riders stunted, misgrown, ugly creatures, attired in antique jerkins of plaid, long grey cloaks, and little red caps, from which their wild, uncombed locks shot out over their cheeks and foreheads'. This confirms Kirk's much earlier statement that the fairies wore the costume of their country, as tartan in the Highlands. John Beaumont's fairies, whose visits to him he describes in A TREATISE OF SPIRITS (1705), were dressed in a most unusual fashion:
They had both black, loose Network Gowns, tied with a black sash about their Middles, and within the Network appear'd a Gown of a Golden Colour, with somewhat of a Light striking through it; their Heads were not dressed with Topknots, but they had white Linnen Caps on, with lace about three Fingers breadth, and over it they had a Black loose Network Hood.
A rather engaging dress on little people of three feet high, but not at all the kind of costume one would expect to see on a fairy. There were other eccentric costumes. The Gunna, a Highland fairy boy who had been banished from the court, wore fox skins; the kind, solitary Ghillie Dhu dressed in leaves and green moss; the sinister Northumbrian Duergar wore a coat made of lambskin, trousers and shoes of moleskins and a hat of green moss decorated with a pheasant's feather. The BROWN MAN OF THE MUIRS wore clothes of withered bracken. In the more literary descriptions of fairies from the 16th century onwards, they are said to wear clothes made of flowers, of gossamer spangled with dew and of silvery gauze, but these clothes are not so often found in the traditional accounts, though we can quote the foxglove caps of the Shefro. Beyond these there are a number of fairies of all kinds who were naked. The Asrai, the water-spirits, were beautiful, slender and naked, only covered by their long hair.
Many of the nymph-like fairies danced naked in their rounds, as the witches were said to do, a fashion imitated by the modern witches. Many of the Hobgoblins were naked. Brownies generally wore ragged clothes, but other hobgoblins were often hairy and naked. The Fenoderee is one of these hairy monsters. There is Lob-Lie-By-TheFire, Hob, or Hobthrust, the Bogan, and the Urisg who was like a satyr in shape. The Shetland Broonie 'King of the Trows' was presumably naked, since he was laid by a gift of clothing. One naked little hobgoblin, however, was not shaggy, if we may trust his own pathetic description of himself:
'Little pixie, fair and slim, Not a rag to cover him.' It is no wonder that the lament called forth the gift of clothing that laid him, but he did not go weeping away like the Grogach of Man, but ran away merrily, as Mrs Bray tells us, chanting:'Pixy fine, Pixy gay! Pixy now will run away.'Some fairies wore clothes indistinguishable from those of mortals, fine and fashionable like those of Cherry's Master in the tale Cherry of Zennor, or homely and old-fashioned; or sometimes archaic, like the costume of the market people seen at the fairy market at Blackdown: Those that had occasion to travel that way, have frequently seen them there, appearing like Men and Women of a stature generally near the smaller size of Men; their habits used to be of red, blew or green, according to the old way of Country Garb, with high crown'd hats.
The descriptions given by Katharine Briggs in AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAIRIES of fairy clothing and appearance have not dealt with those skilled in shape-shifting, who can change their size and appearance at will, nor do they make allowance for the power of glamour possessed by most of the fairies, which can only be penetrated by the use of the fairy ointment, or a four-leafed clover.
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