Mother Shipton was one of the most famous soothsayers in Britain and a familiar figure in English folklore and traditions. Stories about her were published in chap-books from the middle of the 17th century onward. These were usually embellished and exaggerated but succeeded in capturing the public’s attention even though many of her prophecies only appeared after her death.
She was believed to have been born in the time of King Henry VII, in Knaresborough, Yorkshire in 1488 and named Ursula Sontheil. There are several variant spellings of her surname. Her mother was believed to have been a poor single girl about fifteen years old named Agatha.According to legend she gave birth to her during a violent thunderstorm in a cave near the River Nidd. Despite being forced to appear before the local magistrate Agatha refused steadfastly to name the baby’s father. She appeared to have no family or friends to support her and lived alone in the cave bringing her baby daughter up the best she could. Eventually after two years the Abbot of Beverley heard of her plight and she was taken to a distant nunnery. Baby Ursula was taken in by a local family but in the nunnery Agatha lost contact with her daughter and later died. As an adult, Ursula became known as Mother Shipton and the cave became known as Mother Shipton’s Cave and today is a popular tourist attraction.
Baby Ursula
According to tradition, Ursula was a very unattractive baby to such an extent that no one wanted to nurse her. Eventually a foster mother was found who lived on the edge of Knaresborough. Strange things happened around baby Ursula. One legend tells how one morning her foster mother discovered she and her crib missing. She roused several neighbors who set about searching the home for clues to her whereabouts. According to this legend the neighbors were attacked by strange ape-like imps and other unearthly entities that pricked and scratched them. Eventually, to the shock of all, baby Ursula was found still in her crib but suspended in mid-air halfway up the chimney. Eerie events of this kind happened on many occasions as she grew up. Plates, crockery and ornaments would fly around the room and furniture would slide across the floor to a different position. As she grew older her power of prophecy began to develop.
Marriage
Unfortunately for Ursula, as she grew into a woman her looks did not improve and all descriptions of her are terribly unflattering. With a thin and sharp face covered in warts and a large hooked nose she became the archetypal image of a witch. Despite her unfortunate appearance she was said to have married a carpenter from York named Tobias Shipton at the age of twenty four. Sadly, he died a few years later and the couple had no children.
To earn a living she appears to have taken on a role as a cunning woman and made potions and remedies out of herbs and flowers to alleviate health problems for local people. She began making prophecies and her fame spread far and wide and she became known as Mother Shipton.
Her Prophecies
There were many prophecies attributed to her including events like the Spanish Armada in 1588, English Civil War from 1642–1651, Great Fire of London of 1666 and many other important events. She was said to have prophesied her own death that occurred in 1561 at the age of seventy three. One of her alleged prophecies that did not come true was the end of the world,
“The world to an end shall come
In eighteen hundred and eighty one.”
Like other prophets her predictions were placed in verses, rhymes and riddles that were difficult to interpret and ambiguous. However, this technique did make them suitable for many kinds of events and situations that arose.
False Prophecies, Fake News
It was many years after her death when the first publications in the form of books and pamphlets appeared in 1641 and later in 1684. It is believed that the writers of these publications were creative in the use of facts and events and many events that happened after her death were made to look like she had predicted them.
It may be that predictions sell and what is novel and unusual can strike a chord with the public who become eager for more information. This increases the chances of writers and publishers making money which increases their creative juices to flow, while inventing new stories to sell to the gullible public. Fake news is not a modern invention!
Richard Head who edited the 1684 publications was believed to have created her life story and the descriptions of her on existing legend and folklore. This had been passed on orally and possibly twisted, embellished and exaggerated along the way. Although this makes it difficult to get to know the real person, or even if there was a real person behind the legends.
Mother Shipton’s Cave
The cave where Ursula was born and later lived is now known as Mother Shipton’s Cave, or sometimes Old Mother Shiptons’s Cave. It is situated near the River Nidd at Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. Close by is the Petrifying Well that has been visited by paying sightseers since 1630 making it the oldest entrance-charging tourist attraction in England. The water in the well is high in carbonate and sulphate and immersed objects eventually become encrusted in stone.
Mother Shipton’s Legacy
We will probably never know the real truth and full story of Mother Shipton or Ursula Sontheil and very often the truth turns out more interesting than the fiction. In many ways she is the archetypal witch with her strange and lonely ways and her unfortunate physical appearance. All around the British Isles there are cases from history of women such as her who made a meager living from selling potions, telling fortunes or perhaps delivering babies. Sometimes they were known as cunning women or perhaps the local wise-woman. Although they often lived on the edge of society they performed important roles that could not be done by those within. In many cases the different behaviour they displayed might see them as being part of the autistic spectrum or perhaps some psychological disorder. Nevertheless in her life, she seems to have achieved a reasonable degree of success with stories of how she could find lost or stolen objects and predict the future with some success. It seems that after her death her reputation was exaggerated and embellished by others to suit their own purposes and some scholars doubt she ever existed.
In Arthurian tradition, the elusive sorceress Morgan le Fay becomes one of King Arthur’s most dangerous foes, breaking traditional family bonds and working to undermine and bring down the strict patriarchal system and chivalric order of the Arthurian world. The enigma of Morgan is that despite attempting to kill King Arthur and usurp his kingdom, she is the one who takes him into her care after being severely wounded by Mordred in the Battle of Camlann, bringing an end to his kingdom.
This work draws from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini, Historia regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain), and Sir Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte D’Arthur and is influenced by other texts. It examines how Morgan’s character changes from benevolent to malignant and swings back to benevolent after the disaster of Camlann. To do this, we look at her early life and how she used Arthur’s famous sword, Excalibur, against him and stole its scabbard and then discuss the disaster it would cause. Next comes a discussion on two important topics that had a considerable influence on medieval society: the Querelle des Femmes, or the Woman Question and witchcraft, and it concludes with her return to Avalon.
As Ruler of Avalon
Geoffrey of Monmouth introduces her into Arthurian literature in Vita Merlini as Morgen, presenting her as the leader of nine benevolent sisters who rule the island of Avalon. She is the most beautiful, the most knowledgeable, and the most powerful of the sisters. In addition to being a skilled healer, she can fly or transport herself at will from place to place and has shape-shifting abilities. It is uncertain whether these “sisters” are family or members of a religious or mystical cult.
In the work of some later writers, Morgan becomes King Arthur’s step-sister or full elder sister, but her character undergoes a radical change. As Arthur’s elder sister, she breaks the traditional bond of love between brother and sister and the nurturing role so often associated with the elder sister towards their younger brother. Furthermore, instead of the wise and benevolent sorceress, she evolves into a malign, sexual predator hating her brother and his wife, Queen Guinevere. Forsaking her place at the centre of the Arthurian establishment, she moves to its periphery, becoming a renegade attacking the established order. She targets the Knights of the Round Table, especially Sir Lancelot, weaving dark spells and plots to trap them. Eventually, she becomes nothing less than an enemy of the state and arguably its most dangerous adversary until Mordred emerges to usurp the crown, resulting in the Battle of Camlann.
Morgan’s Early Life
In Historia Regum Britanniae, Geoffrey of Monmouth makes Morgan the youngest daughter of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall and his wife Igraine. When the King of the Britons, Uther Pendragon, first set eyes on Igraine, he became wildly infatuated with her. Unable to contain his lust, he attacked Cornwall to take Igraine for himself.
Gorlois sent his wife to his safest stronghold, Tintagel, while he confronted Uther’s troops in battle. While the military confrontation took place, Merlin, using his skills of disguise, transformed Uther into the likeness of Gorlois to allow him access to Igraine at Tintagel. The guards, believing it was Gorlois, let him enter the stronghold, and Igraine, thinking he was her husband, lay with him, and that night, Arthur was conceived.
While this was taking place, Gorlois was killed battling Uther’s army. After satisfying his lust, Uther returned to his troops. On learning of the duke’s death he took Igraine to be his wife. He married her eldest daughter, Morgause, to King Lot of Lothian and the next eldest, Elaine, to King Nentres of Garlot. Morgan was the youngest, and he sent her to a nunnery. (2)
Morgan hated Uther because she knew what had happened the night her father died and deeply resented Arthur as the product of his lust. At the nunnery, she was introduced to astrology, the dark arts of necromancy, and healing skills, which she became highly adept at. As her skill and knowledge grew, people began to call her Morgan le Fay in acknowledgement of her abilities. Eventually, she joined Arthur’s court and became one of Queen Guinevere’s Ladies-in-Waiting. But that was not to last.
Morgan and Guiomar
Morgan was a beautiful young woman. She was a good singer and musician, marvellously skilled with her hands, knowledgeable and well-spoken. For the most part, she was considerate and courteous, but when angered, she became vindictive, spiteful, and obstinate. She was alleged to be the lewdest and most lustful woman in Britain, taking many lovers.
One day, Guinevere’s nephew, Guiomar, found her at work in a bedroom spinning golden thread, and the two fell in love at first sight. The lovers tried to keep their affair secret, but eventually, Guinevere found out and banished him from the court. This incident caused Morgan to develop a burning resentment towards her. It increased her animosity towards Arthur, which she had kept hidden. She left the court and further studied the arts of sorcery, greatly enhancing her magical abilities.
Eventually, she returned to Camelot, and Arthur married her to King Urien of Rheged to create a strategic political alliance, deepening her resentment towards him. With Urien, she had a son named Owain and began secretly plotting the downfall of her husband and brother, King Arthur.
The Lady of the Lake and Excalibur
One of the most famous symbols of the Arthurian legend is Excalibur, the sword he obtained after breaking the sword he had pulled from a stone to become King. Needing a replacement, Merlin took him to the shores of a lake. From the shore, gazing towards the lake’s centre, he saw an arm holding a bright sword aloft out of the water.
The moving serenely in a boat over the water the Lady of the Lake approached Arthur, and he asked if she would give him the sword in exchange for anything she desired. She told him to take the boat on the shore out to the arm, and he would be given the blade and a scabbard. When the time came, she would ask him to fulfil his part of the bargain. The boat took Arthur and Merlin across the lake to where the arm held the sword out of the water. Arthur followed her instructions and received the sword and scabbard. They returned to the shore, where he examined the sword exquisitely crafted with the finest workmanship.
“Which do you like best, the sword or the scabbard?” asked Merlin. “I prefer the sword!” replied Arthur. “Then you are a fool! The scabbard is worth ten of the sword, because while you wear it no matter how you are wounded you will not lose blood. Always keep the scabbard safe by you at all times,” advised Merlin.
The Scabbard of Excalibur
Time passed, and during a battle, Arthur was wounded, and the wound produced no blood. Merlin reminded him that this was because of the scabbard of Excalibur and again warned him to keep it safe, reiterating that anyone who wore it would not lose blood if wounded.
At this time, Arthur still loved and trusted his sister, Morgan, even more than his wife, Guinevere. Therefore, he took the scabbard and Excalibur to her and asked her to keep both safe. However, Morgan secretly hated her brother and saw this as an opportunity to bring him down. Morgan created a fake sword holder and sword and gave the real sword and its enchanted holder to her lover Accolon for him kill King Arthur in a duel. She would then, with Accolon, take the throne. To make this happen, Morgan le Fay cast a complicated spell that transported them to a remote location where they could fight without interference from anyone in Camelot.
She sent Arthur the counterfeit Excalibur and its fake scabbard to use in the duel, while Accolon used the genuine items. In the following fight, Arthur was almost overwhelmed and bleeding from many wounds dealt by Accolon wielding Excalibur. In contrast, Accolon, despite receiving numerous blows from Arthur, remained unbloodied and uninjured. Weakened by blood loss, Arthur realised that his opponent was wielding the Excalibur and wearing the scabbard.
As Accolon raised Excalibur to strike the death blow, the Lady of the Lake intervened, casting a spell that made him drop the sword. Arthur seized his chance, grabbed the blade, and, tearing the scabbard from Accolon, hurled it away. Now wielding Excalibur, Arthur defeated his opponent, badly wounding him and, without the protection of the genuine scabbard, causing blood to flow.
With Accolon at his mercy, Arthur demanded an explanation of how he got Excalibur and its scabbard. Accolon told him of Morgan’s plot and how she hated and despised him. On hearing this, Arthur was genuinely emotionally hurt and shocked. He had entirely loved and trusted his elder sister and learning that she hated him hurt deeply. Nevertheless, for all that, Arthur would have spared Accolon, who died four days later from his wounds. As an act of compassion, Arthur sent his body to Morgan for her to mourn appropriately, but this further increased her hatred towards him. Still weak from blood loss, Arthur decided to rest at a nearby nunnery to recuperate.
While Accolon and Arthur had been locked in mortal combat, Morgan at Camelot had been busy. As her husband, King Urien, lay sleeping, she had crept up to him wielding a knife intending his murder. Her son, Owain, arrived by chance in time to stop her from carrying out the fatal blow. Owain would have killed his mother, but she claimed a sudden madness had afflicted her and believing her, he spared her life.
The Theft of the Scabbard
Morgan had truly loved Accolon and was devastated by his death and the failure of her plot, and sought vengeance. On receiving his body, she went to Guinevere, who at this stage was unaware of the fight between Arthur and Accolon, to request leave from the court, claiming she had received urgent news and needed to travel home to deal with it.
Guinevere reluctantly gave consent, and at dawn the following day, Morgan left on horseback with a retinue of her knights. After riding hard all day and night, they reached the Abbey where Arthur was recuperating. She was met by the nuns, who took her to his room and offered to wake him. “Nay, let him be,” she said, “I will wake him later when he is rested. Now, leave me with him!” The nuns were terrified of Morgan and obeyed her without question.
Arthur was lying fast asleep on a bed in the room, and in his right hand, he tightly gripped Excalibur. Morgan thought about trying to steal the sword, but she knew if he should wake, he would surely kill her now. She decided she would not take the chance, and seeing the empty scabbard close by, she silently hid it under her cloak and quietly left him, riding off with her entourage following.
When Arthur awoke, he immediately discovered the scabbard was missing. Calling the nuns to him, he questioned them about what had happened while he slept. They told him about his sister’s visit and how she had ordered them out of the room, leaving her alone with him. On hearing this, Arthur ordered Sir Ontzlake to prepare their horses, and they set off after her.
Riding hard and fast, they eventually saw her and her knights in the distance. Looking back, Morgan saw it was Arthur and realised she could not escape. Despite having a company of knights, she knew they could not defeat Arthur and Sir Ontzlake. Nevertheless, she was determined he would not get the scabbard back. Riding to a nearby lake, she threw it far into the water, where the weight of the gold and jewels that embellished it quickly took it to the bottom.
Looking to escape Arthur and followed by her knights, she galloped into a valley whose sides were littered with great stone blocks. She turned herself and her knights into stone blocks with her magic arts. Just as she had done this, into the valley rode King Arthur and Sir Ontzlake, who looked around the valley but could only see blocks of stone. Unable to find a trace of her, Arthur searched for the scabbard, hoping she had dropped it for them to find to end the chase. Finding no trace, he returned to the Abbey.
As soon as he had gone, Morgan turned her knights and herself back into human form and rode back to her home country. Fearing her brother may seek revenge for her part in his attempted assassination and stealing the magical sword sheath, she strengthened her castles and town walls. For now, she was an enemy of the Arthurian state.
Arthur rode back to Camelot, where Queen Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table warmly welcomed him home. They were outraged when they heard his story of the fight with Accolon, Morgan’s plot to take the crown, and how she had stolen the scabbard of Excalibur. They accused her of treason and demanded that she be burnt at the stake.
The Deadly Cloak
Despite the failure of her murderous plot, Morgan’s hatred for her brother had not diminished, and she came up with another plan to assassinate him. She sent one of her girl servants to Camelot, bearing him a most handsome cloak as a peace gift, begging his forgiveness. It was studded with precious gems and embroidered with threads of gold and silver, and Arthur was incredibly impressed. As he was about to try it on, the Lady of the Lake intervened, saying, “Sire, do not try the cloak yourself or let any of your knights try it until she who has brought this gift to you has worn it herself!”
“Perhaps you are right, I will follow your counsel,” he told her thoughtfully and called the girl to him. “Place this cloak over your shoulders that I may see how it looks worn,” he told her. “Sire, it is not my station to wear the clothes of a King!” she protested. “First, you must wear it before my knights try it on!” He spoke firmly, gesturing for the cloak to be draped over the girl’s shoulders. As soon as the cloak was placed upon her, it burst into flames, reducing her to ashes. Arthur was furious at the treachery of his sister. At the same time, he was hurt and bewildered that she had planned such an awful death for him.
Having been thwarted in her plot and with the death of her lover, Morgan feared her brother’s vengeance. She removed herself to live in the margins of his kingdom in the forests and wild places, building her realm on the edge of Arthur’s. She delved deeper into the study of sorcery, mastering it to such an extent that she was revered as a goddess. At every opportunity, she sought to capture and imprison any of the Knights of the Round Table who came her way, especially Lancelot, whom she captured several times. She had an unrequited love for him, but her overriding motive in capturing him was to hurt Guinevere and Arthur.
The Murals of Lancelot
During one period of confinement, Lancelot painted a mural depicting his life on the walls of his prison, which included his love affair with Guinevere. Years after he had been released, King Arthur and some of his knights came across Morgan’s castle. Arthur had heard nothing of Morgan for years and believed his sister to be dead. Seemingly forgetting and forgiving past wrongs, he was overjoyed to discover she was still alive and invited her to return to Camelot with him, but she told him, “Do not ask this of me, for I will never return to court. When I finally leave this place, I will go to the Isle of Avalon where the women live who know all the magic in the world,”
Guiding him around her castle, she took great pains to show him the murals Lancelot had painted. As soon as he saw them, he finally realised Guinevere and Lancelot had been having a long love affair and was deeply upset. Morgan seized upon this, encouraging him to take vengeance on the betrayal of his trust by the two people closest to him.
The Importance of Excalibur’s Scabbard
Along with this betrayal, other events would eventually lead Arthur reluctantly to go to war with Lancelot, who would retreat to his castle in France with Guinevere. Arthur left Mordred as steward of his kingdom and went to war with Lancelot, but he was to betray him and usurp the crown. Arthur was forced to return for the final confrontation at the apocalyptic Battle of Camlann, where he killed Mordred but, bereft of the scabbard of Excalibur, was also mortally wounded.
If Morgan had not stolen and disposed of Excalibur’s original scabbard, Arthur would have been protected from harm had he worn it at Camlann. Thus, Morgan may have been indirectly responsible for the seriousness of his injury. Yet, it was she, despite her hatred, who took him or received him for healing in Avalon.
Querelle des Femmes, or the Woman Question
In much of Arthurian literature, the “Woman Question” and the witchcraft threat are presented through Morgan, mirroring the challenges and threats these topics were seen to pose to the established patriarchal order in medieval times. The “Querelle des Femmes” appeared during the 15th century as a literary debate discussing the role of women in medieval society and areas they were excluded from, including politics, religion, and other fields. There were arguments for and against greater female involvement. The debate began in France around Le Roman de la Rose, begun by Guillaume de Lorris, to be concluded by Jean de Meun, and spread around Europe, dividing the literary world. The thesis of the book centred on Meun’s misogynistic and stereotyped ideas on female status and those who challenged and rejected them. In Morgan, these arguments are seen through her behaviour, the behaviour of other male and female characters, their roles in society and their relationships.
Witchcraft
The belief in magic goes back to the earliest times of humanity. Sorcery, enchantment, and other forms of magic are essential to the Arthurian world. They were also widely accepted as part of medieval life, coexisting with Christianity as it does in Arthurian texts. Eventually, it became unacceptable to the Christian Church as a severe threat, particularly from women, who too often unfairly suffered the consequences.
The Lady of the Lake saves Arthur from Morgan’s plots to kill him. She is seen in social terms as the model femaleupholding and defending the patriarchal order. At the same time, Morgan is the wayward lady, the renegade, who does not behave as she should, deliberately seeking to undermine patriarchy. Unable to fight directly in combat because of her gender, she uses the chivalric order to attack the strictly patriarchal Arthurian state. She used Accolon to battle with Arthur, turning the chivalric rules against him, and even his sword, Excalibur, was used against him.
She is not a passive participant in events like Guinevere, who gets abducted several times. Instead, Morgan is an active agent, and she abducts Arthur’s knights. An independent, strong-willed, active, intelligent woman armed with sorcery is seen as a danger to patriarchy and medieval society. To counter this, she is given a reputation of sexual predation and treachery to the family – the cornerstone of medieval culture and her magic becomes witchcraft. Her role is presented to the reader as an example of everything a high-status woman in medieval society should not be, hence the need to alienate her. This staining of her character is the consequence of her magic, independence, and intelligence.
Return to Avalon
After the Battle of Camlann, Morgan had Arthur completely helpless, in her power and at her mercy. Yet her character now appears to have gone full circle. With him at her mercy, instead of killing him, she becomes the loving sister and the benevolent sorceress, taking up the traditional passive, healing, nurturing role often associated with good women in medieval society. Despite the fall of the renowned Arthurian order, patriarchy is not dead, and there seems to be no place in what remains for her. She foretells she will be found on,
“… the Isle of Avalon where the women live who know all the magic in the world.”
Like Morgan le Fay, Arthurian tales can be intriguing, healing, dangerous, appealing, tricksy, and open to interpretation. Through their sorcery using the power of words, the reader creates their own magical, meaningful experience. The Arthurian realm remains popular for creative, imaginative readers to explore and discover engaging and intriguing characters like Morgan le Fay, roaming amidst a magical and fantastical landscape that is very much a creation of the reader as the writer.
1) Morgan le Fay – AI image – Conjured from Bing Image Creator by zteve t evans using the commands,“Morgan le Fay weaving magic spells, in the style of Edvard Munch,” 28/03/2025
There was once a an old woman who was deeply skilled in the arts of necromancy and lived in a tiny hamlet called Treva in Cornwall. She could make powerful, spells, incantations and charms and people in the neighborhood were terrified of her.
Nevertheless, although the local people held her in fear and awe her husband remained singularly unimpressed by her witchery and refused to believe in such things. Instead he was more concerned about the housekeeping and the cooking especially when he came home from work when he would demand his dinner the instant he came in.
One day after a hard day’s work he came home looking forward to a good dinner which he expected to be cooked and ready, on the table for him to tuck into as soon as he walked through the door. Imagine his shock and annoyance when he discovered there was no dinner. In fact there was no meat, no vegetables or potatoes or any other kind of food in the house at all.
The Rollright Stones are a group of three ancient monuments dating from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, situated along the borders of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire in England. The complex is made up of three different sets of standing stones individually known as the King Stone, the King’s Knights and the Whispering Knights. Their original purpose and meaning have been long lost but such is the enigmatic and inscrutable nature of the stones that many myths, legends and traditions evolved around the site. Stories of witches and kings, petrification spells, death and madness, failed attempts at moving the stones, fairies living under the stones, fortune telling and superstitions and many more such traditions add to the mystery and magic of the Rollright Stone Complex.
The Witch and the King
Probably the most famous legend tells how the complex was created by a witch who turned an invading king and his army into three sets of standing stones. The legend tells how the king and his army traveling through the district came across a witch who took an apparent dislike to the king and his men and turned them to stone. She then turned herself into an elder tree to watch over them. Read More
On the borders of the English counties of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire, not far from the village of Long Compton, lies a mysterious complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age megaliths known as the Rollright Stones. Presented here is a brief description of the stone complex followed by a look at the petrification myth associated with it that fancifully attempts to explain its origin. The presentation concludes by briefly mentioning other stone circles and monoliths that also have petrification myths associated with them.
The Rollright Stones
The Rollright Stones complex consists of three sets of monuments; the King Stone, the Whispering Knights and the King’s Men. The King Stone is a single standing stone set some 50 yards outside the stone ring which is separated from it by a road. The Whispering Knights was a burial chamber also outside the stone ring. The final set is a circle of stones called the King’s Men.
The sets are not the same age as each other and all appear to have had different purposes. This leads scholars to think that the site had a strong tradition of ritual over a long period of time and had some kind of special significance during that time. With the timescale involved and the sheer mystery of their purpose perhaps it’s not surprising that a number of intriguing myths and legends have evolved as people throughout the ages attempted to explain their existence.
The Petrified King and his knights
The King Stone – Photo by Cameraman
According to a legend recorded by William Camden in 1610, and put into verse, there was a king who wanted to conquer the entire country of England and he came across a witch who confronted him saying,
“Seven long strides shalt thou take And if Long Compton thou canst see, King of England thou shalt be.”
The King took up the challenge saying in reply,
“Stick, stock, stone As King of England I shall be known.”
And strode forward, but on his seventh stride a long mound, which sometimes now is known as the Arch-Druid’s barrow rose up before him preventing the sight of Long Compton. The laughing witch cried,
“As Long Compton thou canst not see King of England thou shalt not be. Rise up stick and stand still stone For King of England thou shalt be none; Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be And I myself an eldern tree.”
The King was turned into a standing stone known as the King Stone and most of his men who were gathered in a circle were turned into the King’s Men ring of stones. Outside of this circle was a small group of knights who some say were in prayers, while others say they were whispering and plotting against the king. Either way they still fell victim and were turned to stone to become Whispering Knights.
Whispering Knights – by Midnightblueowl
A legend says that one day the spell will be broken and the King and his knights will resume their conquest of England unless they have the bad luck to come across another witch. It is not told if the king had angered the witch in some way. Neither is it known why the witch turned herself into an elder tree unless it was to keep an eye on the hapless king. The witch’s tree is said to be growing in a hedge separating the King Stone from the Stone Circle and according to legend will bleed if it is cut when in flower. It is said that on Midsummer’s Eve people would congregate around the King Stone and he would move his head when the elder tree was cut.
Midnight at the stones
Tradition says the King’s Men are released from the petrification spell and return to life at midnight. They all join hands together and dance in a circle and are also said to go down to the spring in a nearby spinney to take a drink. This is a dangerous time because it is said that anyone who should witness these extraordinary events will die or go mad.
Petrification myths
Many other stone circles and standing stones have petrification myths attached to them that tell how people were turned to stone by a witch, God, or the Devil for taking part in some forbidden activity in some way. Some people think these type of legends were encouraged by the Christian church who were keen to discourage pagan practices. Another school of thought was that such legends were promoted by the Puritans as a warning to keep on the straight and narrow path of the Christian faith.
The threat of petrification may have been seen as a lasting and very visible punishment for transgressing the rules, especially those of merrymaking on Sundays which seems to be a popular day for being turned to stone in Britain! In the case of the Rollright Stones we are not told what the day was only that it was a witch that gave the king the warning and appears to have foretold the king’s destiny, or cast the spell that fulfilled it.
Was it misfortune, or just a bad day?
The petrification of humans into stone is often associated with the creation of stone circles and standing stones. Many other ancient stone circles and monoliths also have petrification myths attached to them such as Long Meg and her Daughters in Cumbria, Mitchell’s Fold in Shropshire, the Stanton Drew stone circles of Somerset, the Merry Maidens and The Hurlers, Cornwall and there are plenty of other examples in the British Isles and around the world. In Britain the petrification is often caused by a witch, or for participating in some forbidden activity such as merrymaking on a Sunday. In the case of the Rollright Stones the King and his men just seemed to have had the misfortune to happen upon a particularly spiteful witch, or just caught her on a bad day!
Today, Mitchell’s Fold is the remains of a stone circle standing on a bleak heath in South West Shropshire. A local folktale tells of how the stone circle was originated. It tells that there was once a time of great and grievous famine that fell upon the country thereabouts. Many were faced with starvation and the people had to endure the most terrible struggle to survive. Fortunately for them there was a Good Witch who sent them a most wonderful cow that grazed upon the heath.
This cow was pure white and allowed folk to milk her as long as they took no more than one pail, or container, of milk for each person, each time she was milked. If that one simple rule was followed she never ran out of milk and could be milked all day and all night any number of times. She would even fill different kinds of containers, but the rule of one applied also to them and as long as that was followed she never once ran dry. Local folk were grateful and obeyed the rule fearing that if she should be milked dry she would leave and never return leaving them with no form of nourishment.
Witch Mitchell
Now there was a bad old woman by the name of Witch Mitchell who hated everyone and took delight in causing harm and misfortune to people. She took it on her to take a sieve up to the moor and milk the cow into that. Well, as can be expected the sieve never filled up and eventually the cow ran dry. The cow was at first content to yield up her milk but with the milking seeming to take an age she looked around and saw a great pool of milk all over the heath. The white cow, perhaps feeling that her good nature had been abused, ran off and was not seen on the heath again.
As is so often the way of the world the many suffer from the abuses of the few and the poor people she left behind suffered greatly from starvation and many died all because of the evil Witch Mitchell.
West side of Mitchell’s Fold – photo by Dave Coker
The Good Witch was angry with Witch Mitchell and punished her by turning her into a standing stone that stood on the heath. She caused standing stones to be placed all around her to imprison her there for all time. That place on the moor became known as Mitchell Fold after the bad Witch Mitchell. Some say the the cow ran all the way to Warwickshire changing her color on the way to become known as the Dun Cow, but that is another tale.
Under the influence! 
