<div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" id=":125" class="ii gt"><div id=":124"><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>
<div><div>
<div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center">
<font size="2">==============================</font><font size="2">=======================<br>
L O W L A N D S - L - 29 May 2011 - Volume 01<br><a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:lowlands.list@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span>lowlands.list@gmail.com</span></a>
</font><font size="2">
- <a rel="nofollow" href="http://lowlands-l.net/" target="_blank"><span>http://lowlands-l.net/</span></a><br>
Posting: <a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank"><span>lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org</span></a><br>
Archive: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html" target="_blank"><span>http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html</span></a><br>
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-08)<br>
Language Codes: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://lowlands-l.net/codes.php" target="_blank"><span>lowlands-l.net/codes.php</span></a><br>
==============================</font><font size="2">=======================</font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font size="2"> </font></p>From: <a href="mailto:bsu295@bangor.ac.uk" target="_blank"><span class="gI"><span class="gD" style="color:#5b1094">heatherrendall@tiscali.co.uk</span> <span class="go">heatherrendall@tiscali.co.uk</span></span></a><br>
Subject: <span class="gI">LL-L "Etymology" 2011.05.27 (05) [EN-NL]</span><br><br>from Heather Rendall <a href="mailto:heatherrendall@tiscali.co.uk">heatherrendall@tiscali.co.uk</a><br>
<br>
re Adderstones aka snakestones<br>
<br>
from A Dictionary of English Folklore by Simpson & Stroud p331<br>
<br>
quoting Richard Carew (1602)<br>
<br>
"The country people retain a conceit that the snakes, by breathing<br>
upon a hazel-wand, do make a stone ring of blue colour, in which there<br>
appears a yellow figure of a snake, and that beasts which are stung,<br>
being given to drink of the water wherein the stone has been soaked,<br>
will there-through recover."<br>
<br>
Such rings were usually small prehistoric beads of striped glass, taken<br>
from ancient burials; however Robert Hunt was told that snakestones wre<br>
'about the size of a pigeon's egg' and a friend of his had seen one<br>
which was a beautiful ball of coralline limestone, the coral being<br>
thought to be entangled young snakes (Hunt Popular Romances of the<br>
West of England 1865)<br>
<br>
(It then gives the Pliny quote already submitted)<br>
<br>
In English folklore, fossil ammonites too are called snakestones.<br>
Legend claims they are coiled snakes decapitated and turned to stone by<br>
St Hilda of Witby or alteratively by St Cuthbert. Trade in ammonites<br>
flourished at Witby , Yorks and Keynsham, Gloucs.<br>
<br>
I can certainly understand both these concepts: I have an Eygptian<br>
green glass bead with a yellow stripe coiled round it. If you had never<br>
seen glass being made, you have to explain it away somehow!<br>
<br>
As for ammonites, pretty obvious really that these would have<br>
superstitious beliefs linked to them and their origins.<br>
<br>
Heather<br>
<br>
Worcester UK<br>
<br>
PS Did you note the germanic phrase in the Carew quote: " there-<br>
through" = dadurch - unfortunately lost to us now - Unless someone in<br>
the Forum knows of its existence somewhere in the UK<br><font style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><span></span></font><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center" align="center"><font size="2"><span>===============================================================<br>
Send posting submissions to <a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank">lowlands-l@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>.<br>
Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.<br>
Send commands (including "signoff lowlands-l") to<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:listserv@listserv.linguistlist.org" target="_blank"><span>listserv@listserv.linguistlist.org</span></a>
or <a rel="nofollow" href="mailto:lowlands.list@gmail.com" target="_blank">lowlands.list@gmail.com</a><br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html" target="_blank"><span>http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html</span></a>
.<br>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#%21/group.php?gid=118916521473498" target="_blank"><span>http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/group.php?gid=118916521473498</span></a>
<br>
===============================================================</span></font></p>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>
</div></div>