1. An Evening With Long Meg; 2. Meg[aliths]; 3. Within the Shadows 2
AN EVENING WITH LONG MEG
oil on canvas | 40" x 30" | 2003 | £650
#P11 A3 & A4 | #GC3
Since I wanted to cast the shadow away from the viewer, astronomically sun-dialing to the circle, I brought in a tinge of colour at the edges to hint at an enveloping wrap on sunset as the ("natural") sky washes over a washed-out hill. With the landscape's background almost bleached it was imperative to make the ash trees appear as brittle as possible, allowing Long Meg itself to provide the colour and hues.
MEG[ALITHS]
photo | 10" x 4" | 2002
#LE21 print run 20 A4
LONG MEG 2
Featuring the modiste Rachel Leary of Trinity Emporium to scale at the portal stones.
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This image is the one used on the posters for the exhibition, Of Earth & Stone, at Castle Park in 2006. LONG MEG & HER DAUGHTERS, CUMBRIA
WITHIN THE SHADOWS 2
oil on canvas | 12" x 16" | 2005 | £NFS
#P22 A4 | #GC13
A late neolithic to early bronze age site, constructed
some time between 3200BCE and 2800BCE, of local
porphyritic stone - except Long Meg herself, a 12’
tall 3-sided pillar of sandstone from the Eden Valley
over a mile away. It is thought Long Meg predates the
circle and was initially a territorial marker for the
local settlement. Burl suggests the circle was interposed
between Long Meg and an 600’ by 700’ enclosure
to the south, re-using the pillar as an astronomical
marker: from the circle, Long Meg indicates the position
of mid-winter sunset. Sited to the south west of the
circle, Long Meg also sports carvings possibly reflecting
the sun’s winter path. With a large portalled
entrance also to the south west, the circle is one
Britain’s largest, measuring nearly 360’ by
300’ in diameter, with the heaviest stones weighing
around 30 tons. The stones originally totalled about 70,
with 59 still on site - 27 upright (like many stone
circles, the stones are said to be countless), and were
erected on a slope with a possible bank and ditch. A
track now runs through the circle leading to a farm, the
location of which is where Stukeley reported another
circle in the early 1700s. Both Stukeley, in 1725, and
Aubrey, a century earlier, noted 2 cairns within the
circle, both since ploughed away. Many stories focus on
this site, still a focal-point for festival gatherings,
and the stones have been classed as Long Meg’s
coven, lovers and daughters over the years. Long Meg
herself, a mediaeval term for any tall object, comes from
a C12th tale wherein she was a local witch turned to
stone with her coven by the passing wizard Michael Scott.
If a piece is broken from the pillar legend says it will
bleed and treasure is supposedly buried beneath. Another
tale tells that many stones were blown up under orders
from the C18th landowner Colonel Lacy, to clear for
farming, but when they got to Long Meg a thunder storm
arose from nowhere and everybody ran off complaining of
bad omens.
OS: NY.572.373 Take the A686 north easterly from Penrith,
then a minor road to Little Salkeld. Long Meg and her
Daughters are off the road from Little Salkeld to
Glassonby, now with new signs rather than the old wooden
one at a crossroads proclaiming “Druid’s
Circle” and often pointing the wrong way.