PAINTINGS
PAINTINGS
duncanreynolds.co.uk
DUNCAN REYNOLDS GALLERY
THE ROLLRIGHT STONES
Oil On Board 85cm x 23.5cm MAY 2023
"REST FOR A BIT"
This composition is based on one of my favourite places, The Rollright Stones, with The Whispering Knights on the left, The King's Men stone circle hiding in the trees and The King Stone up on the hill.
The bench on the right is inscribed in latin
"ORE STABIT FORTIS ARARE PLACIT ORE STAT"
which can be translated as,
"REST FOR A BIT FOR THIS IS A RARE PLACE TO REST AT"
Oil On Canvas 50cm x 40cm JULY 2019
THE WHISPERING KNIGHTS
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The Whispering Knights are the remains of an early Neolithic burial chamber probably dating to around 3800 BC built by the first farming communities in the area.
This type of tomb is known as a 'portal dolmen', other examples can be found in Cornwall, Wales and Ireland. Seen from the downhill side two massive stones like doorposts flank a closing slab to form a 'portal' with a large fallen capstone to the rear. Originally the sides of the chamber would of had more uprights. There was probably a low platform or mound of stones around the back and sides of the chamber. People went on depositing human bones here well into the bronze age (3000 - 1200 BC).
I created this painting 'en plein air' over two of the hottest July afternoons on record! Spending five hours each day trying to hide from the sun, at least there was a nice breeze up there on the hill. It was so hot the oil paint on my palette and the canvas was drying quickly, almost like painting with acrylics.
Painting 'En Plein Air' on the hottest July days on record!
The Whispering Knights sketch June 2019
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The Whispering Knights are one of the sites which make up The Rollright Stones, a complex of three Neolithic and Bronze Age megalithic monuments near the village of Long Compton, on the borders of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire, OX7 5QB.
The first to be constructed was the Whispering Knights. This was followed by the King's Men, a stone circle which was constructed in the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age; unusually, it has parallels to other circles located further north, in the Lake District, implying a trade-based or ritual connection. The third monument, the King Stone, is a single monolith, and although it is not known when it was constructed, the dominant theory amongst archaeologists is that it was a Bronze Age grave marker.
The King's Men
Ink and Watercolour, June 2019
THE KING'S MEN
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The King's Men is a stone circle 33 metres (108 ft) in diameter, currently composed of seventy-seven closely spaced stones. Being a stone circle, it was constructed at some point during the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age in British prehistory.
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After undertaking limited excavation at the circle in the 1980s, archaeologist George Lambrick concluded that when it had been originally erected, it would have been a "more perfect circle" than it is today, with each of the stones touching one another, creating a continuous barrier all the way around. He also speculated that the monument's builders intentionally chose the smoother sides of the boulders that they were using to face inwards, something evidenced by the fact that the outer facing sides are predominantly rougher in texture.
Surveys undertaken during the 1980s revealed four magnetic anomalies within the centre of the circle, possibly representing "pits related in some way to local ground surface undulations and the presence of localised burning".
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As it stands today, the monument is in part a reconstruction, because in 1882, the owner of the site re-erected around a third of the stones that had previously fallen, and in doing so some were moved out of their original positions. Using documentary evidence and lichen growth analysis, archaeologists have also established that around that time, several new stones were added to the circle in order to fill in gaps where the original stone had been lost or destroyed, although Lambrick doubted that any more than two of those currently standing were modern additions, with four of the other, smaller additions having been stolen by vandals in the 20th century.
THE KING STONE
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The King Stone is a single, weathered monolith, 2.4 metres high by 1.5 metres wide, standing 76 metres north of the King's Men. Unlike the other two of the Rollright monuments, it is of uncertain date. Many different interpretations have been made of the King Stone, with various arguments being presented as to what it had originally been designed to be. Archaeologist George Lambrick catalogued six distinct hypotheses that had been presented by antiquarians and archaeologists over the preceding centuries and evaluated their likelihood. Some of these argued that it had been positioned in relation to the King's Men stone circle, with others instead suggesting that it was a component of a long barrow or other burial site.
THE MYTHS AND LEGENDS
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Numerous folktales are associated with the stones, including the tale reported in a rhyming version by William Camden in 1610, that a king was riding across the county with his army when he was accosted by a local witch called Mother Shipton, who said to him:
"Seven long strides thou shalt take, says she
And if Long Compton thou canst see,
King of England thou shalt be!"
His troops gathered in a circle to discuss the challenge and his knights muttered amongst themselves, but the king boldly took seven steps forward. Rising ground blocked his view of Long Compton in the valley and the witch cackled:
"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 elder tree!"
The king became the solitary King Stone, while nearby his soldiers formed a cromlech, or circle, called the King's Men. As the witch prepared to turn herself into an elder tree, she backtracked into four of the king's knights, who had lagged behind and were whispering plots against the king. She turned them to stone as well, and today they are called the Whispering Knights.
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Legend holds that as the Long Compton Church clock strikes midnight, the stones come alive and the king and his men go down to the brook in the valley to drink, they also come 'alive' on New Years Day, and certain saints' days.
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The Rollright Stones became associated with fertility in the late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries, with several different local customs arising in the nineteenth century. Girls from local villages ran naked around the stones at midnight of Midsummer's Eve in the belief that they would see the man they were to marry, drawing upon earlier belief that eavesdropping upon the conversations of the then-living king and his men would likewise reveal the name of their future husband. Childless wives may have prayed to or near the King Stone, or rubbed their bare breasts on the King Stone as part of a local fertility-related custom.
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UNCOUNTABLE STONES
My favourite myth is that it is impossible to count the King’s Men.
It is said that the man will never live who shall count the stones three times and find the number the same each time. It is also said that anyone who thrice counts the same number will have their heart’s desire fulfilled.
A baker swore he could count them and, to prove it, he baked a number of loaves and placed one on each of the stones. But each time he tried to collect them up some of the loaves were missing, spirited away either by the Devil or by fairies.
I have tried counting them once so far, it's harder than you might expect, and I made it 68 the first time, then got confused the second time (it had been a long day in the sun) and went for a refreshing pint at the nearby campsite/pub, The Greedy Goose.
I will definitely count thrice next time...
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THE DANGERS OF REMOVING STONES
A local farmer supposedly took one of the largest stones to make a bridge over a stream. It took 24 horses to drag the stone down the hill and a man was killed on the way. Eventually they got the stone across the stream, but by the morning it had flipped over onto the bank! This happened each time they replaced it; then the crops failed, so they decided to put the stone back. It only took one horse to drag it up the hill!
TAKING PIECES OF THE STONES
As with some Welsh standing stones, any passing carrier who chips bits off the King Stone will find the wheels of his cart become irrevocably locked!
The strange shape of The King Stone has less to do with weathering effects than the destructive habits of 19th century souvenir-hunters (and by legend, cattle drovers who chipped off small pieces to act as lucky charms to keep the Devil at bay). The serious damage caused by such vandalism was one of the reasons why legal protection for ancient remains was introduced in 1882, the Rollright Stones being among the first monuments to be put into the guardianship of the state. The railings round the King Stone were erected soon afterwards to prevent further damage, and between c.1911 and c.1950 had an upper tier (for which the attachment holes are still visible).
'The Witch and the King' by Andy Norfolk
More recently the 1978 Doctor Who serial "The Stones of Blood" featured several scenes filmed at the Rollright Stones. The site was presented as a fictional stone circle in Cornwall, at which modern Druids are worshipping an ancient goddess who turns out to be an alien.
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The English rock band Traffic recorded a song named "Roll Right Stones" for their 1973 album Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory.
English indie band Half Man Half Biscuit mention the stones in the song "Twenty Four Hour Garage People" on their 2000 album Trouble Over Bridgwater.