Cunning men and women, often as not natural herbalists, were met with everywhere in medieval Europe. More than anyone else they probably bore the brunt of persecution during the witch hysteria. Various stories tell of people being turned into standing stones or megaliths for various social transgressions such as dancing on a Sunday. I wonder however if such tales perhaps preserve the remote folk memory of communal gatherings at megalithic sites involving song & dance?
lyrics
Long Grey Meg lived on the edge of town
A bare existence
Long Grey Meg she healed with herbs
And charmed both warts & blisters
Runs the hare from coursing hound
The grey mare jumps the river
Runs the doe from hunter’s bow
The shaft can harm her never
Long Grey Meg she turned to stone
The fields with dew drops sparkle
Pastor blessed her, mason dressed her
Carved her as a lintel
Runs the hare from coursing hound
The grey mare jumps the river
Runs the doe from hunter’s bow
The shaft can harm her never
credits
from To Speed The Plough,
released August 31, 2015
Words & music by Ric Kemper.
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