Tis the Solstice when the Stones Awake.
The Ferryman Draws Near
In this strange land I have touched the light,
and have run with the white hart beyond the
Shores of endless summer to their secret place
where our lord the king still sleeps,
I have seen things that are beautiful,
now the shadows grow longer
Their are ripples on the water
The ferryman draws near.
In this strange land I have known great power,
And have fought with the strength of the boar
against the lords of chaos at the wastelands
edge where Merlin keeps his watch,
I hear things that are fearful,
now the shadows grow longer,
there are ripples on the water
the ferrymen draws near.
By John White of Troon.
In ancient times our ancestors knew this as the season of the White Goddess.
This was a time of coming together to celebrated the festival of Yule.
The Druids would walk for miles to meet in the ancient places of fire.
And there they would celebrate the rebirth of the Sun.
And new life with the coming of the Sun, and the New Year.
We mark this day by calling it the Winter Solstice.
The first fire of the chain of bonfires was traditionally lit on the "Garrack Zans"
or "Holy Rock" in the village of Escolls in the Parish of Sennen.
This Garrick Zans, at Escolls, was according to Dr Robert Hunt, invested with
the most remarkable associations. He asserts that many superstitious rites, were
formerly performed on it and that the extinction of several old local families was
ascribed by the peasantry to the unholy act of removal or breaking up the alter
for building stone.