Exploration: For those of a squeamish nature I would advise not to read, or at least go to the links, because I am about to tackle sheela-na-gigs those ugly grotesque depictions of sex and fertility.
Actually I had started with the font at Cowlam church in East Yorkshire, expansively decorated with depictions from the bible, it is considered to be clumsy in its carving, but nevertheless fascinating. Then noticed another church nearby North Grimston which had a male and female sheela-na-gigs.
Why are they so high up in church walls one may ask, what are they telling us? sex is ugly, one of the sins of humankind is the answer the old Norman churches seem to say as they trail their messages across their religious walls. But what if they told of fertility and fecundity, the spring awakening of bouncing lambs and emerging plant life. Two different interpretations, what sparked the interest though was this March 2021 article in the Guardian in Ireland. The depiction of sex is so different today of course, or is it? porn is a dominant aspect of the internet, okay the girls have to be slimmer and not have child bearing hips as their attractive features.
So what period of history do sheela-na-gigs come from, maybe guessing but from the Saxon period, a changeover period when the old pagan gods were morphing into the Christian God, fertility is after all a strong contender in keeping us alive. If you go back onto the site for these strange creatures, you will find them linked to Celtic mythology, the tale of the' old hag' and many theories beside - but there is not an actual factual answer!
What also struck me from these two churches and nearby churches, is that there must have been a school of carvers in this area a bit like the Kilpeck church in Herefordshire. And should you drive on you would come to Wharram Percy, the deserted medieval village set in the fields about a mile away from the road.
So......... on this grim wet day take a walk when it was sunny. I have often wondered how the people in this DMV moved around, there must have been another lane to other villages but only a map will tell. But now caught in a time trap in the middle of neat and tidy modern fields, this settlement recorded over the years by dedicated archaeologists with its ruined church and renovated empty farmhouse are all that is left, may it always remains so.
"It was a word salad with croutons of random verbiage."
Thank you Thelma - it reminded me that once - maybe fifteen years ago - the farmer and I went on an outing with the Study Group we belonged- we went to Wharram Percy and to several fascinating churches in the area - one which had frescoes and one which had a 'standing stone?' mear to the door. The ladies of one village provided us with a beautiful picnic tea.
ReplyDeleteIt was probably the Rudston Monolith Pat, one of the enormous standing stones of Yorkshire. It stands above the Gypsy Race river, another colourful name. East Yorkshire holds quite a lot of interesting archaeological sites and close to each other.
DeleteI had not heard of Wharram Percy - I must go when next up that way; my friends live in Pocklington, so not too far?
ReplyDeleteLooked it up for you, just 17 miles and definitely a worthwhile visit to Wharram Percy. And, just a note of interest. Is that Pocklington had a burial ground of Iron Age 'square' burial barrows from the Arras culture (incomers). Person, ponies and chariot burial all together. It is all under a new estate of houses now but was only a recent discovery.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing about the girls of today is that they not only have to be slimmer and not have child-bearing hips, but peer-pressure dictates that they divest themselves of pubic hair too - or so I am told.
ReplyDeleteOnly you could say that Tom ;) but have you ever seen the Neolithic 'Venus' figures? Plump matrons, a sign that food and fertility was important.
DeleteGosh Tom, a bit nippy in the winter months!!
ReplyDeleteWharram Percy is well worth the visit, though it's years since we went. There was an interesting archaeology prog on it recently where they investigated possible cannibalism back in the Medieval period. I think they concluded it was done to stop the dead rising and coming back to assault the living! A sort of zombie apocalypse :)
The Sheela-na-gigs have long fascinated me - I'm inclined to think they may be older than the Anglo-Saxon period but were certainly a well-known Christian lecture-in-stone if Kilpeck is anything to go by. Beware the lusts of the flesh . . . Mind you, men riding (lavicious) goats was probably a more subtle way of saying the same thing. Apparently they could well be apotropaic magic (new one to me until I looked it up this morning).
There is a possible connection to the Irish goddess who granted kingship - she being an old hag who - if she persuaded someone to sleep with her, then changed into a beautiful young woman. There's a folk song along similar lines by Steeleye Span (the ballad of Alison Gross I think it is.) The ugliest witch in the North country . . .
'Zombie apocalypse', that's a new one Jennie. I can understand cannibalism happening from starvation but eating the dead to stop them coming back is a bit scary.
ReplyDeleteYes as far as Sheela-na-gigs are concerned they could have carried on through the Celtic period, there are more in Ireland for a start. Their presence on churches does stand out as a warning of course to the congregation, and whether you can say they are reused stone in churches as well from the much earlier Saxon churches. You would need a lifetime to study the significance of the Dubh hag/ witch amongst all the folklore and myth, and yet their the Sheelas seem to exist.
Not eating them, but dismembering them - stopping them coming back as complete bodies I think.
DeleteThelma it was indeed Rudston. As I came over to see if you had replied the word popped into my head - then reading you confirmed it. What a strange thing the brain is.
ReplyDelete;) It is where madness begins Pat!
DeleteAlso on the subject of 'swearing' (for want of a better word) I do agree - we would forgive Tom anything!!
ReplyDeleteThe font at Cowlam looks amazing. Thank heavens we have artefacts like that from so long ago. As for reflections on "Super Thursday", I am heartily sick of hearing about the Conservative victories and the headway made by the SNP. Maybe I should move to Wales.
ReplyDeleteYes the font is amazing, the amount of work in it. 'Up North' there is a lot of good stuff, and when you look round whether it be the abbeys, churches or Viking burial coffins. And then Rudston, the tallest megalithic stone in the country followed by the Devil's Arrows near Harrogate. Also Andy Burnham who is speaking the right language. ;)
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