Mon 28.Jun.2010
Prague, Czech Republic
I'm writing in an outdoor cafe on the Old Town Square in Prague,
on a warm summer evening.
The subject is still that idyllic southwest England.
Today's theme is...
Voices of Old Stone
Corfe Castle
On the south coast by the Bay of Poole, this old castle, defended mostly
by women, held out against a parliamentary army in the English Civil
War.
When the castle finally fell, the victors ordered it destroyed by
explosives. Supposedly, people turned out from miles around to watch
the event.
Today, the ruins form a dramatic crown, making their small hill look
much larger than life. A small village sits outside the moat. Our group
had a fine and fun dinner there, but we arrived too late to go inside
the castle. I took a few pictures through the gate, and from outside.
Glastonbury Tor
This hill sits amidst a flat valley, with a small but historic town at
its base, an old time tower on its top, and enough history, legend,
myth, and told tales about it to fill a server farm.
On this weekend, there were also about 150,000 people at a music
festival a couple of miles distant. We saw them from the top.
St. Michael's Tower
stands atop The Tor. At least one legend must say that the saint's
spirit still lives here. Rover the mystic watchthing from The Prisoner
prevents his escape.
We walked down off The Tor into the town of Glastonbury. This nice kid,
who was operating the kissing gate for his grown-ups, opened it for us
too.
A kissing gate is a sort of gate that humans can work but cows cannot.
Glastonbury Abbey
The abbey at Glastonbury was confiscated and ordered destroyed by king Henry VIII, he of the several wives and his own church.
It must have been a major gothiic cathedral in its day.
"An' every one was an 'En-r-y.
She wouldn' 'ave a Willy or a Sam."
I started to write here about a story that King Arthur and Queen
Guinevere were buried here, or at any rate that monks dug here looking for
their bones. Then I went to look up a fact, and found that the tale is
way too complex and uncertain - beyond the scope of this post. If you
are interested, I refer you to britannia.com's article on the subject.
"Get up, old stone!"
- Aragorn
The stones of England speak with deep voices, if you listen with the right kind of ears.
Contents Copyright 2012 Jeff Bulf