Mythic Cheshire: “Cheshire: Its Magic and Mystery” by Doug Pickford

Mummery
Pickford suggests the characters in the Alice stories are based on a guising group (mummers) who are active in Cheshire. The characters are the Letter-In (who is in a tophat and is arguably the rabbit/portal guardian), Good King George (feels later than Ars period, swap with saint?), the Black prince, Mary (played by a man), Beelzebub, and the Wild Horse and his Man. This last one drop potatoes (representing dung) around the place to make the crops fertile.

Pickford has Maying gangs and he links their wicker suit (Jack in the Green) to the Green Man and Robin in the Greenwood. He notes that Robin’s followers might be Mary Men: servants of the Queen of May. On Mellor Moor Robin Hood’s Picking Rods are used as wedding stones.

Are they related to the Goodly Fires on May 1? Beeston Castle site was used for balefires on Beltaine.

Gawain and the Green Knight is set at the manor of Swythamley. The Green Chapel is Lud’s Chapel.

Trees:
The Marton Oak heals people who rub its bark against skin injuries and warts. Small pieces of the bark protect from the Evil Eye. It is celebrated with dancing. Locals claim it is the largest in England. Its trunk is 581 feet in circumference. It is the tethering point for a bull, which makes collecting the bark tricky. Foxtwist Hall has a healing oak too. Oaks are used as preaching sites and community meeting venues. They are believed to attract lightning. Fool’s Nook is a “druidic” oak grove. It seems like a good site for a Mercere covenant. It’s south of Macclesfield on the road to Leek.
Alderly Edge has an alder on it that’s celebrated with children dancing and singing rhymes about it. The holy well on the edge has a hawthorn and a yew. Sacred grove?
Hawthorns mark special places. The most significant is the Appleton Thorn which is celebrated with “bawming” (decoration and dancing). It was planted in 1178 by Adam de Duston, the local lord of the manor. It’s an offshoot of the Glastonbury thorn. He also raised a stone cross. These were thanks offerings for safe return from the Crusades. Many hawthorns have a stone cross together with them.
Pickford claims maypoles are ancient, and they are phallic.

Witches
The salt under the ground repels and opposes witches.
Corn dollies are used for magic.

Buggins
Pool Head Gate has a buggan.
Macclesfield and Nantwhich are very haunted. “More ghosts than grains of salt”.Is it because Second Sight is weirdly common here?
Jaggers make up false ghosts to avoid salt tax.
The Black Lion/Dancing Duck inn in Nantwhich has a ghostly dancing bear in the basement.
Priest teams: 12 priests. Techniques include having one lie on the grave with a candlke and bible so it cannot get back in. Shrink it or hold it in a circle of prayer so it is destroyed by the sunrise.

Witches
The salt under the ground repels and opposes witches.
Corn dollies are used for magic.

Buggins
Pool Head Gate has a buggan.
Macclesfield and Nantwhich are very haunted. “More ghosts than grains of salt”.Is it because Second Sight is weirdly common here?
Jaggers make up false ghosts to avoid salt tax.
The Black Lion/Dancing Duck inn in Nantwhich has a ghostly dancing bear in the basement.
Priest teams: 12 priests. Techniques include having one lie on the grave with a candlke and bible so it cannot get back in. Shrink it or hold it in a circle of prayer so it is destroyed by the sunrise.

Faeries
Faerie rings are grass of a different texture and colour.
Run around 9 times under a full moon and you can hear the faeries.
Can be spirited away on solstices and equinoxes.
Faeries move Ince Church while it is being built because its site annoys them. Story found elsewhere with secular buildings.
Bosley Cloud: Border. Fairy town or ruins?
Faeries dance around whitethorn and cross pairs.

Church grims
The black dog of Barthomley appears to mark the coming death of the rector.
Black dog as church grim. Graveyard guardian
First buried person in new graveyard becomes church grim, so dog buried instead.

Springs:
Springs create Healthy Environment.
Kelsborrow Hill: Bronze age fort.
Horsey Bath: cold spring for rheumatism.
Spurston Spa in Bath wood is a healing spring.
Gayton wishing well is activated by flinging a stone into the water over your shoulder.

Rivers
The Dane is named after Danu. There’s a sacrifice site at Hanging Stone, Dane Bridge, Winckle.
The Dee is called the “Wizard’s Stream” and divination is possible by its ebbs and flows.
The Weaver is sacred and made healthy and holy by the proximity to the salt towns. .Can be used for divination.
Is there an infernal river?

Notes:
The adjective is “Cestrian” for things from Chester.
A lot more forests than you expect. The forest of Lyme cuts Cheshire off from the south of England.
Bridestones: people walk between them to marry.
Lindlow Man: bog burial.
Dieulacres is at the boundary of the earl’s lands.
Bramhall Hall is the home of the foresters of the royal hunting grounds (Davenport family?)
Castle Rock on the Edge was the original site for the castle that eventually became Beeston Castle. Why was the foundation moved?
Note for Moston Dragon and Dragon Lake. A strong wind is locally called “dragon breath”.
Timbersbrook has a set of “Cat Stones”. Cat Goddess?
Hermitage Green: St Oswald’s Well is a pilgrimage site of healing water.
Old Man of Mow: Elemental? Rock formation that looks like a man.
Thurstaston “Thor’s Stone Town”. Sacrificial stone?
Bodston Hill: Sun and moon goddess carvings. Horse goddess carving?

The following material that comes from books which did not contain sufficient useful materials to get their own episodes.

“Annals of Hyde and District”
The Roman stations in the area are Manchester, Stockport, Longdendale, Coom’s Moss, Buxton, Melandra and Manchester.

Gorton is named from “Gore Town” based on a battle between the Saxons and the Danes which was so bloody that the Gore Brook ran with red.

Motram’s old chapel had cement mixed with “nut brown ale”.

Town of Glossop run by monks.

Cheshire people go south to work as harvesters in the rest of England, seasonally.

“English Heritage Book of Chester”
The Roman workshops for Chester were at Holt. There are kilns and workshops there.
There are copper, lead and silver mines in Wales controlled from Chester.

In the C10th, Chester is a link in the trade chain to Dublin.
Imports
Furs, foodstuffs, fish – Ireland
Cattle, sheep – Wales
Wine – Germany, Spain, Aquitaine.
Oil, iron, cork
Most of this trade moves to Bristol. Chester’s port is never large. Does not export wool and Cheshire doesn’t have an agricultural surplus to export. Exports cheap cloth, hides. To Ireland it sends troops, salt, saltfish, corn, metals. To Wales it sends supplies for the English castles in North Wales (later?).
The “roodee” on maps is the area that was once the river and has silted up.
Leather industry is prolific, but might be slightly later. The glovers and skinners are between the river and the wall.

2 sheriffs, mayor and corporation.
2 fairs (Midsummer and Michaelmas)
Castle built in 1070

There is a nunnery, monastery and three friaries. St Giles is a leprosarium which is a mile and a half east at Broughton. Some story about it not having lepers and places there being heritable? They collect tolls on all food going to Chester.
Little Saint John: hospital for 12 inmates.

Early Norman castles at Chester, Shotwick, Doddleston, Pulford, Aldford, Castleton, Malpas, Oldcastle.

Beeston Castle is on the main road south.

Villages share churches because they are not wealthy enough to have a church each.

And that’s it. Aside for the Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight episodes, that’s the end of the research phase. On to the drafting phase.