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The
Hemlock Stone
By
Mr Emsley Coke/Mr Samuel Page,The Hemlock Stone,
Transactions of the Thoroton Society, 10
(1906)
By
Mr Emsley Coke
Various
theories have been put forward in explanation of the Himlack
(or Hemlock) Stone, and may be divided under two heads:
(1) That it is entirely the work of nature; (2) That it
is mainly the work of man.
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The
Hemlock Stone. circa 1906 |
At
one time it was thought to have been cut out by the Druids
as an object of worship, and later opinion suggested the
remains of a quarry. In the memoirs of the Geological Survey,
published in 1880, Mr. Aveline says: “Twenty years
of further observation would incline me now to place more
stress on sub-aerial denudation than on marine. I believe
that whatever may have been the first denuding agent, sub-aerial
agencies have given the finishing touches to the moulding
of the physical features of the district as we now see them,
and that the striking pillar of rock, the “Himlack
Stone” has slowly worn into its present shape after
the country was raised above the sea for the last time.”
I
entirely agree with Mr. Aveline in this; the adjoining Bramcote
and Stapleford hills are of the same formation and no doubt
are the remains of strata which at one time extended over
the entire district. The “Himlack Stone” is
probably the last remnant of a harder piece of the rock
which has taken longer to remove.
There
is no evidence, so far as I can learn, that any quarry was
worked in the vicinity, and I believe the ground has been
examined to see if there are any remains, but nothing was
found.
It
is quite possible and likely that this stone was associated
with worship in ancient days, most of the striking natural
objects usually have been.
Mr.
Shipman considers the Hemlock Stone the remains of a huge
hill which has been washed away and crumbled by the dislocations
or “faults,” and by weather, its origin somewhat
resembling that of Nottingham Castle rock. The upper part
of it, of the hill at Stapleford behind and of the hill
at Bramcote in front, he considers to be Keuper, he and
Mr. Wilson thus differing from most geologists, who regard
it as Bunter, like the Castle Rock. The lower part is considered
to be mottled sandstone. The particles of the upper portion
maintain their firmness through chemical action, the substance
apparently being sulphate of barium.
Mr.
Samuel Page holds that the use of the Hemlock Stone for
Druidical rites may be definitely traced. He believes it
to have been a Tothill, one of those eminences, natural
or artificial, which were dedicated to the worship of the
Celtic deity, Teut (Egyptian “Thoth”). He sends
us the following paper in support of this theory.
By
Mr Samuel Page, F.R.N.S.
Though
there may be difference of opinion as to the origin of the
Hemlock Stone, yet, in my view, the use of it for Druidical
rites may very definitely be traced. I would refer to a
letter in Hone’s Year Book, 1831, page 867, on the
subject of the Toothills, from the text of which I take
the following extracts :—
“The
able manner in which you have elucidated the antiquities
and customs of Britain, and especially the ‘Midsummer
Fires,’ and other Pagan relics, prompts me to draw
your attention to what, though intimately connected with
them, you seem hitherto to have neglected or overlooked
namely, the Toot Hills, formerly consecrated to the worship
of the Celtic deity ‘ Teutates,’ many of which
still remain with scarcely any alteration of their designated
names. . . . Mr. Payne read a paper before the Royal Society
of Literature, in 1829, in which he identifies the Celtic
Teutates with that benefactor of mankind, who, from the
invention of various useful arts, was worshipped in Egypt
and Phoenicia under the name of Thoth, in Greece as Hermes,
and by the Latins as Mercury. To shew the connection between
Tot and Teut and the Egyptian Thoth, it may also be remarked
that Bruce says the word Tot is Ethiopic, and means the
dog-star; now the Egyptians represented Thoth with the head
of a dog, and Mr. Bowles remarks that ‘the Druids
cut the sacred Vervain at the rising of the Dog Star.
There
can be little doubt, at any rate, that the Thoth of Egypt,
deified in the Dog-star, was transferred to the Phoenicians,
who derived their astronomical knowledge from Egypt, and
who ‘held their way to our distant shores on account
of commerce, thus, perhaps, leaving some relic of their
knowledge behind them; and indeed the Egyptian Thoth, the
Phoenician Taautus or Taute, the Grecian Hermes, the Roman
Mercury, and the Teutates of the Celts (so called from the
Celtic Du Taith, Deus Tautus) are among the learned admitted
to be the same. . . .
A
stone was the first rude representation of Tuisto, or Teut,
and these dedicated stones were placed on eminences, natural
or artificial, most commonly by road sides, and hence called
Tot-hills or Teut-hills, and in various parts of the kingdom
are so called at present. These hills would, of course,
still remain after the Druidical rites were abrogated by
the Romans; and as that people paid especial attention to
the genii loci of the countries they conquered, and, besides,
considered these Teut-hills as dedicated to their own Mercury,
they would probably venerate them equally with the conquered
Britons. . . ‘According to my idea,’ observes
Mr. Bowles, ‘Thoth, Taute, Toute, Tot, Tut, Tad, Ted,
Tet, are all derived from the same Celtic root, and are
in names of places in England, indicative of some tumulus,
or conical hill, dedicated to the great Celtic god, Taute,
or Mercury.’”
Many
names of places derived from Taut are scattered all over
the country, to mention locally, Toothill Lane, Mansfield;
Toton, near Nottingham; Toth ill, near Alford, Lincolnshire;
Totley, Derbyshire; Tatenhill, near Tutbury; which latter
name is also of the same derivation. At least sixty names
are given in Hone’s Year Book.
But
it will be asked, what connection has all this with the
Hemlock Stone, and where is the Tothill to be traced?—(the
name Hemlock, by the way, I think, was sometime Cromlech,
though the late Mr. Lowe gives a different derivation).
If we look around for Tothill I think we need not go very
far. An ancient little stream called the Tottle Brook rises
near Trowell Domesday Torwell—and flows not very far
from the Hemlock Stone. Further on, it forms the boundaries
of some parishes, and then pursues its winding course to
the distant Trent, into which it empties itself opposite
Wilford Church. How probable it is that this little rivulet
acquired its name many centuries ago from an important Tothill
close by! Mr. F. W. Dobson informs me that there are certain
streams in Wales which undoubtedly derive their names from
local Cromlech stones, and this strengthens my theory.
To
my mind, at least, there is here some evidence that this
Hemlock Stone was the Tothill, and that here the Druids
celebrated their worship, brought their sacrifices, and
lit their prodigious fires on the eves of May Day, Midsummer,
and the 1st of November. Probably, owing to the action of
nature during prehistoric ages, they found the stone in
much the same shape as we see it now, though, from denudation,
less in height from the level of the ground, and utilised
it for their purposes. Of the Druids and their rites our
knowledge is limited, but I venture to suggest that in the
name of this little stream may lie the key to some of the
antecedents of the Hemlock Stone, the mystery of which has
so long puzzled the antiquary.
Mr.
Page’s theory is disputed by another correspondent,
who considers that there is no evidence connecting the stone
with Druidical observance, and who suggests that the etymology
of “Toothill” is merely an example of the process
known as the reduplication of synonyms.
The
name, as well as the origin and use, of the Hemlock Stone
is a matter of speculation. It has been suggested that it
was named from the plant Hemlock, which was greatly celebrated
by the ancients, and which may have grown in abundance about
the column.
A
brief stay was made by the party at the Hemlock Stone, most
of the company having already inspected it.
----------------------------------
By
Emsley Coke/Samuel Page, The Hemlock Stone, Transactions
of the Thoroton Society, 10 (1906)
Thanks
to A. Nicholson for the source of
text and pictures: www.nottshistory.org.uk |
The
Hemlock Stone stands near the summit of Stapleford
Hill adjacent to 
