Fairy rings

_Brian · 10-06-2019 10:07pm

It’s something I never heard of.

Ya have to wonder what is going through some people’s heads.

oceanman · 10-06-2019 10:12pm

_Brian wrote: »

It’s something I never heard of.

Ya have to wonder what is going through some people’s heads.

you have never heard of fairy rings?

_Brian · 10-06-2019 10:17pm

oceanman wrote: »

you have never heard of fairy rings?

No, that type of unusual formation, being from Cavan you’d think it would get a mention in school as it’s the only one in Ireland

Stormington · 10-06-2019 10:46pm

No such thing as Faeries. They're a Victorian English item introduced to Ireland.

These fairy rings are more likely grave markers. Not just famine-era either. When people could not bury children on the lake-islands they often buried them with ring markers. Faeries kept children at bay.

There's another saying that agrees with the majority OP: let the dead rest.

decky1 · 10-06-2019 11:05pm

God can we even say Fairies now? my grandfather had a sister and as his father and her headed into town one day on the horse and cart he was talking to her for a while but got no reply when he turned around she was gone, he turned around and went back to find her sitting in the ditch and from that day till the day she died her speech was affected and she walked with a limp, they were convinced the Fairies had taken her. I have heard of them but never covering that much land. At the TT in the isle of man the riders go down to a spot where the 'Faries' live and say hello to them for good luck, maybe you could leave them something as a gift for your land.? [No not a bottle of Fairy liquid]

gozunda · 11-06-2019 12:13am

Stormington wrote: »

No such thing as Faeries. They're a Victorian English item introduced to Ireland.

These fairy rings are more likely grave markers. Not just famine-era either. When people could not bury children on the lake-islands they often buried them with ring markers. Faeries kept children at bay.

There's another saying that agrees with the majority OP: let the dead rest.

The "Faeries" might be English indeed and yet they are only a rough approximation of the mythology of the Sídhe - which Irish folklore describes in detail as a much less human friendly group of other worlders. In Ireland the Sídhe were responsible for amongst other things for stealing children, for changlings, for assigning misfortune where they were slighted and also foretold sídhe withdrawal from the land of men. Traditionally not a bunch to be messed with in the stories told. The 'fairy' rings most often are early burial mounds or the remnants of ring forts - many of which were later used for unconsecrated burials and often associated with the sídhe. Is there really any wonder there is myth and superstition attached to these sites?

PMU · 11-06-2019 10:37am

decky1 wrote: »

God can we even say Fairies now? my grandfather had a sister and as his father and her headed into town one day on the horse and cart he was talking to her for a while but got no reply when he turned around she was gone, he turned around and went back to find her sitting in the ditch and from that day till the day she died her speech was affected and she walked with a limp, they were convinced the Fairies had taken her. I have heard of them but never covering that much land. At the TT in the isle of man the riders go down to a spot where the 'Faries' live and say hello to them for good luck, maybe you could leave them something as a gift for your land.? [No not a bottle of Fairy liquid]

nothing to do with her falling out of the cart so

decky1 · 11-06-2019 3:34pm

PMU wrote: »

nothing to do with her falling out of the cart so

hmmm often thought that myself, but ah no blame the fairies, adds a bit more drama to it.:rolleyes:

Rows Grower · 06-07-2019 4:58pm

https://www.facebook.com/forgottenireland.ie/videos/1091302037722135/?t=4

Those fairies are busy little buggers.

cdgalwegian · 10-07-2019 8:12pm

BarryD2 wrote: »

What do you mean by 'fairy ring'? There are raths or ringforts and these are normally national monuments and protected but they would normally be about 30-50 yards or so in diameter so nowhere near 2+ acres. The only enclosures that size are the large hilltop forts and the like and these are most defitinely protected monuments. But sometimes people refer to fairy rings as places where you get patterns of fungi and sometimes they are places associated with burials. Most townlands had cillíns in them, places where you could bury infants that died during childbirth or very you?ng before baptism etc.

In general as regards raths and cillíns, they are associated with human habitation and burial respectively and I think that is why the tradition of not disturbing them exists. Just out of respect for those that have gone before us.

There's a cillín round the corner from me, with a plaque that reads:
"In loving memory of the little children buried in this and other lisheens in the parish".

Is a lisheen the same as a cillín?

seasidedub · 10-07-2019 8:18pm

These are the homes of the Sidhe.

They were here before us and are an integral part of our island.

If you interfere with their homes you will incur their wrath. Little things will go wrong, you'll have no luck.

If you leave them in peace they'll be benevolent towards you and yours.

Laugh if you choose. I'd never mess with them.

cdgalwegian · 10-07-2019 8:22pm

seasidedub wrote: »

These are the homes of the Sidhe.

They were here before us and are an integral part of our island.

If you interfere with their homes you will incur their wrath. Little things will go wrong, you'll have no luck.

If you leave them in peace they'll be benevolent towards you and yours.

Laugh if you choose. I'd never mess with them.

I only wanted to know if a cillín is the same as a lisheen.

Castlekeeper · 10-07-2019 8:30pm

cdgalwegian wrote: »

There's a cillín round the corner from me, with a plaque that reads:
"In loving memory of the little children buried in this and other lisheens in the parish".

Is a lisheen the same as a cillín?

Not in its origins afaik. A cill would have had a spiritual background whole a lios would have been a habitation.
Because these ring forts were unfarmed and undisturbed and had spiritual links they became used as unconsecrated burial places for non baptised babies.

Rows Grower · 10-07-2019 8:33pm

cdgalwegian wrote: »

I only wanted to know if a cillín is the same as a lisheen.

Read it again with a deep voice and you won't be able to sleep.

i57dwun4yb1pt8 · 10-07-2019 8:39pm

as a teenager i had an air rifle , and hunted regularly in a local field, that had a ring fort in it .

never went into the fort til one day i spied a rabbit beyond it ,
i took aim after sneaking inside the fort , I fired and the gun blew its insides out - busted itself
and scared the crap out of me .

only time it ever did it even after repair .

i would leave it alone .

tjhe fort is on the map someone posted

cdgalwegian · 10-07-2019 8:45pm

Castlekeeper wrote: »

Not in its origins afaik. A cill would have had a spiritual background whole a lios would have been a habitation.
Because these ring forts were unfarmed and undisturbed and had spiritual links they became used as unconsecrated burial places for non baptised babies.

This where there seems to be confusion. The BarryD2 post distinguishes between ringforts and fairy rings, whereby the former relates to habitation, the latter to fungal growth (of annual expanding concentric circles, afaik). But the burials relate to fairy rings, and not ringforts.

cdgalwegian · 10-07-2019 8:46pm

Rows Grower wrote: »

Read it again with a deep voice and you won't be able to sleep.

:eek:

Stop moaning ffs · 10-07-2019 8:51pm

Op. Leave it alone.

It’s not worth it. I could tell you a hundred stories people would waft away as nonsense but there’s too much evidence and too much bad luck outcomes to dismiss.
Stay well away

cdgalwegian · 10-07-2019 8:53pm

DaDumTish wrote: »

as a teenager i had an air rifle , and hunted regularly in a local field, that had a ring fort in it .

never went into the fort til one day i spied a rabbit beyond it ,
i took aim after sneaking inside the fort , I fired and the gun blew its insides out - busted itself
and scared the crap out of me .

only time it ever did it even after repair .

i would leave it alone .

tjhe fort is on the map someone posted

Why are people assuming I'm going to do some damage to it, or otherwise interfere with it?

I'm just interested in knowing more about the site around the corner from me. I have no interest in superstition, aside from from how it has helped in preserving our national heritage.

Rows Grower · 10-07-2019 9:34pm

There's a few ring forts close to where we live they would be in line then with a bigger one a few miles away. The main one is known as a place that some Lord or King ordered to be built around 400AD, they were some men to work with stone in all fairness.

The other forts are on high ground that can see out to sea but they are only big mounds of earth in a circle with trees planted around them at the top and a bowl shape inside. Over time then other trees grew there. They look like they were well used temporary shelters at one time, probably used by men moving animals.

The Cillín then is a different story altogether, the main one around here is miles away from any fort and is located on a small hill that is on relatively flat land. They are said to be the burial ground of unbaptised babies as someone else mentioned. There are a few other smaller Cillín's within a 10 mile radius from what I have been told by elderly friends. None of them show any indication of what they are. The history is just passed down from generation to generation.

cdgalwegian · 10-07-2019 9:59pm

Rows Grower wrote: »

The Cillín then is a different story altogether, the main one around here is miles away from any fort and is located on a small hill that is on relatively flat land. They are said to be the burial ground of unbaptised babies as someone else mentioned. There are a few other smaller Cillín's within a 10 mile radius from what I have been told by elderly friends. None of them show any indication of what they are. The history is just passed down from generation to generation.

Maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought it was fairy rings (not ringforts) where unbaptised babies were buried. Is it that Cillíns are not worn away fairy forts (generally), or are they unconnected, or is it just not known? Iows, were unbaptised babies only buried in these Cillín, which are not worn away fairy rings?
Castlekeeper's post says: "A cill would have had a spiritual background whole a lios would have been a habitation.", seeming to indicate it's related to fairy rings, whereas lios (as in lisheen) would not.

There's definitely a lot of confusion in knowledge of what is what between different people, so it's hard to disentangle historical fact from folklore.

cdgalwegian · 10-07-2019 10:09pm

To confuse matters even further:

Wikipedia
Cillín

A cillín (from the Irish language, with the literal meaning "little cell", "little churchyard" or "little burial ground"; plural cillíní), was a historical unconsecrated burial place in Ireland for children unbaptised at the time of death. Suicides, shipwrecked sailors, strangers, urepentant murderers and their victims were also sometimes buried there—they were used for "infants and other ambiguous categories of individual". Some of them are more than a thousand years old. Ancient pagan burial practices were sometimes later co-opted by Christianity.

The word cillín is a common element in Irish place names, often anglicised as Killeen. An alternative meaning of cillín indicates a small church, from the diminutive form of , meaning church. The word is thought to come from the , meaning little church or oratory. Another meaning for the word cillín is "cell" as in prison cell or monastic cell (many placenames are derived from the cell of a local monk/saint).

Sometimes these graveyards were called lisín, a diminutive form of the Irish term lios for a ringfort. Also lisín leanbh as a variant form.

Figerty · 10-07-2019 11:43pm

cdgalwegian wrote: »

To confuse matters even further:

Wikipedia
Cillín

A cillín (from the Irish language, with the literal meaning "little cell", "little churchyard" or "little burial ground"; plural cillíní), was a historical unconsecrated burial place in Ireland for children unbaptised at the time of death. Suicides, shipwrecked sailors, strangers, urepentant murderers and their victims were also sometimes buried there—they were used for "infants and other ambiguous categories of individual". Some of them are more than a thousand years old. Ancient pagan burial practices were sometimes later co-opted by Christianity.

The word cillín is a common element in Irish place names, often anglicised as Killeen. An alternative meaning of cillín indicates a small church, from the diminutive form of , meaning church. The word is thought to come from the , meaning little church or oratory. Another meaning for the word cillín is "cell" as in prison cell or monastic cell (many placenames are derived from the cell of a local monk/saint).

Sometimes these graveyards were called lisín, a diminutive form of the Irish term lios for a ringfort. Also lisín leanbh as a variant form.

A Cillin was always thought of as an old graveyard for children. Probably pre dating Christianity.

Fairy forts are different, they were dwelling areas, setup to defend stock or other supplies. Some had holes dug into earth to serve as a natural fridge.

looksee · 10-07-2019 11:53pm

I have what I have been officially told is a Norman look out point (highest point around). Otherwise it looks like a fairy ring. I am not superstitious or religious but I do find myself very reluctant to walk across it; I can stand on the rim but walking into it - no, preferably not.

cdgalwegian · 11-07-2019 8:03am

Figerty wrote: »

A Cillin was always thought of as an old graveyard for children. Probably pre dating Christianity.

Fairy forts are different, they were dwelling areas, setup to defend stock or other supplies. Some had holes dug into earth to serve as a natural fridge.

I think I'm beginning to see where the confusion lies, between:
fairy rings
fairy forts
ring forts
I think the term fairy fort is the culprit. If BarryD2's pared-down description is used, fairy rings are naturally occurring phenomena, and ring forts are man-made fortifications. It's looking like a historical/folklore mishmash, and the term fairy forts is surplus to requirements.
In many cases though, worn down fairy forts can look like worn down ringforts, which are also, apparently, known as lisheens (singular, lios); from above- "Sometimes these graveyards were called lisín, a diminutive form of the Irish term lios for a ringfort."
The lisheen around the corner from me most definitely not an old ringfort. in fact, I just had a brainwave and checked mikeymouse's map in post #18, and the plaque that describes the lisheen is described on the map as a cillin!
So if we forget the mishmash term of fairy fort for a second, things (I think) look a little clearer: it seems there were only fairy rings and ring forts, in prechristian times, and it looks like after Christianity, unbaptised babies, not being allowed to be buried in unconsecrated ground, were buried in what were closest to that in superstitious minds; that other realm of the supernatural- fairy rings. Small worn down ring forts look a lot like worn down fairy rings, and over time were mistaken as such. Hence, the rise of the mishmash term fairy fort (which is wrong and unhelpful), and also the confusion between a cillin and a lisheen.

Where's the Time Team when you need them?:)

looksee · 11-07-2019 8:56am

The official map quoted above gets round all these issues by describing anything that is not absolutely clear as an 'enclosure'. That is what mine is listed as.

cdgalwegian · 11-07-2019 9:07am

looksee wrote: »

The official map quoted above gets round all these issues by describing anything that is not absolutely clear as an 'enclosure'. That is what mine is listed as.

Well, I suppose being non-committal means one can't be blamed for being wrong. I'd say it's hard to commit to a definitive description without clear evidence.

I dig a little more digging (boom) into the fairy fort term:

Ringfort
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Legends and folklore concerning ringforts
The materials used to construct ringforts frequently disintegrated over time. Tradition associated their circular remains with fairies and leprechauns, and they were called “fairy forts".

I think I was on the right track; worn-away ringforts had been mistaken for fairy rings, or there was uncertainty, so the two structures were amalgamated into a portmonteau of sorts- fairy forts, being the mishmash result.

I'm no archeologist, but it seems to make sense.

patsy_mccabe · 11-07-2019 9:22am

A Ring Fort or Fairy Fort are the same thing. A Cillín is a small unconsecrated graveyard where the 'unclean', as it were, were buried.
There is a Ringfort on our Land and a Cillín right across the road from us, where my granfather was born and raised.
I always knew the Cillín was there, but recently when I was down in the area, I asked my cousin where exactly it was. He pointed to a mound of earth behind a shed. "Sure, he won't even let us drive on it or park any machinery there". referring to his Grandfather who is well into his 80's.
Crazy to think he is showing more respect than our so called clergy did at the time, to all those young unbaptised children, unmarried mothers, sailors etc who are buried there.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 11-07-2019 10:01am

Figerty wrote: »

A Cillin was always thought of as an old graveyard for children. Probably pre dating Christianity.

Fairy forts are different, they were dwelling areas, setup to defend stock or other supplies. Some had holes dug into earth to serve as a natural fridge.

I think people today forget the different situation that was around in olden days. My father used always bring the ewes into an old ring fort by night to protect them from foxes and that was what was always done here.

Stock out by night could have been attacked by dogs, foxes, wolves or stolen by the two legged versions of those in olden times so it made sense to provide a secure place to keep them safe at night.

cdgalwegian · 11-07-2019 10:04am

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

A Ring Fort or Fairy Fort are the same thing.

I don't think so. I think this is where there is a misconception. As far as I can make out, as in my previous post, a fairy fort is a fuzzy description of what could either be a fairy ring or a ringfort, where its true origin is indiscernible. It's a fusing together of two different structures in peoples minds, based on uncertainty.

Rows Grower · 11-07-2019 10:19am

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

I think people today forget the different situation that was around in olden days. My father used always bring the ewes into an old ring fort by night to protect them from foxes and that was what was always done here.

Stock out by night could have been attacked by dogs, foxes, wolves or stolen by the two legged versions of those in olden times so it made sense to provide a secure place to keep them safe at night.

Funnily enough a lot of ring forts now house fox dens.

mlem123 · 11-07-2019 10:43am

To clarify, I studied archaeology for my BA and MA and have done a lot of research regarding ring forts or faery forts. We have something like over 40,000 in this country of varying size.

Firstly - they essentially are the same thing. Cillíns are different.

Ring forts were used from the iron age into early medieval times for a whole array of activities. The vikings around 1000AD is what saw them coming out of use. Raths (another name for them) often had a singular use ie. for living, workshops, burial etc

They are even mentioned in the life of St Patrick where he says the pagan Ferta was turned into a Relig after being consecrated (but before church burials were common.

I like the whole idea of a faerie fort and glad that the superstition kept them safe :P Feel free to ask me whatever you want

Say my name · 11-07-2019 11:04am

mlem123 wrote: »

To clarify, I studied archaeology for my BA and MA and have done a lot of research regarding ring forts or faery forts. We have something like over 40,000 in this country of varying size.

Firstly - they essentially are the same thing. Cillíns are different.

Ring forts were used from the iron age into early medieval times for a whole array of activities. The vikings around 1000AD is what saw them coming out of use. Raths (another name for them) often had a singular use ie. for living, workshops, burial etc

They are even mentioned in the life of St Patrick where he says the pagan Ferta was turned into a Relig after being consecrated (but before church burials were common.

I like the whole idea of a faerie fort and glad that the superstition kept them safe :P Feel free to ask me whatever you want

Does the suggestion that raths (as they were called around here) were a consequence of plagues in this country and were built to protect themselves from plague carriers, hold any water so to speak?

cdgalwegian · 11-07-2019 11:20am

mlem123 wrote: »

Firstly - they essentially are the same thing. Cillíns are different.

Hi. Can you expand on your above though; it needs a bit of clarifying.
Thanks.

mlem123 · 11-07-2019 11:24am

Say my name wrote: »

Does the suggestion that raths (as they were called around here) were a consequence of plagues in this country and were built to protect themselves from plague carriers, hold any water so to speak?

The names would have definitely had regional variances!

They could have been used for mass graves in times of outbreaks such as plague, TB, famine etc but it's unlikely they would have been built specifically for that as they took time and a large about of resources (labour etc) whereas typical mass graves are usually more hurried.

Saying that, older ones could've been used by later communities as a handy already there grave site

mlem123 · 11-07-2019 11:29am

cdgalwegian wrote: »

Hi. Can you expand on your above though; it needs a bit of clarifying.
Thanks.

Ringforts were around long before Christianity. The association with unbaptised children not being buried on consecrated ground would have been a later practice.

When Christianity initially came to Ireland you would have been buried on a family site - only clergy would have been buried in churchyards as they were seen as the churches family.

Also, in my opinion, the reuse of structures came into play so when these rules were enforced they would have used the raths as Cillíns, but not all Cillíns are in these structures, some were just next to the boundaries of churchyards

cdgalwegian · 11-07-2019 11:37am

mlem123 wrote: »

Ringforts were around long before Christianity. The association with unbaptised children not being buried on consecrated ground would have been a later practice.

When Christianity initially came to Ireland you would have been buried on a family site - only clergy would have been buried in churchyards as they were seen as the churches family.

Also, in my opinion, the reuse of structures came into play so when these rules were enforced they would have used the raths as Cillíns, but not all Cillíns are in these structures, some were just next to the boundaries of churchyards

That seems to be in line what I have said.

Fairy rings, on the other hand, are biologically based/naturally occurring structures, which, afaik, have also been used as (unconsecrated) burial grounds, or is this wrong?

Say my name · 11-07-2019 11:37am

mlem123 wrote: »

The names would have definitely had regional variances!

They could have been used for mass graves in times of outbreaks such as plague, TB, famine etc but it's unlikely they would have been built specifically for that as they took time and a large about of resources (labour etc) whereas typical mass graves are usually more hurried.

Saying that, older ones could've been used by later communities as a handy already there grave site

No sorry i meant were the raths built with the ditch and double ditches as a defensive structure to keep wandering plague carriers away from the householders?
Have you heard of that hypotheses before?

I'd say the majority of people dying from plague just were left where they fell in those times.

Say my name · 11-07-2019 11:55am

Here's a Wikipedia page on the plague of Mohill.

It seems there was a notable increase in rath building after the plague reached the area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_of_Mohill

patsy_mccabe · 11-07-2019 11:56am

mlem123 wrote: »

To clarify, I studied archaeology for my BA and MA and have done a lot of research regarding ring forts or faery forts. We have something like over 40,000 in this country of varying size.

Firstly - they essentially are the same thing. Cillíns are different.

Ring forts were used from the iron age into early medieval times for a whole array of activities. The vikings around 1000AD is what saw them coming out of use. Raths (another name for them) often had a singular use ie. for living, workshops, burial etc

They are even mentioned in the life of St Patrick where he says the pagan Ferta was turned into a Relig after being consecrated (but before church burials were common.

I like the whole idea of a faerie fort and glad that the superstition kept them safe :P Feel free to ask me whatever you want

What % of that 40,000 would have had tunnels running from them. There is a very obvious dip in the land running from ours. It runs almost level at the top of a hill, so is not as a result of flowing water etc. It could be the effects of ploughing though. A sod or two turned different directions from the same line.

mlem123 · 11-07-2019 12:11pm

cdgalwegian wrote: »

That seems to be in line what I have said.

Fairy rings, on the other hand, are biologically based/naturally occurring structures, which, afaik, have also been used as (unconsecrated) burial grounds, or is this wrong?

I wouldn't say you were wrong, but for the most part I'd say most if not all are man made creations, but because they've been reclaimed by nature they look like a natural part of the landscape

Say my name wrote: »

No sorry i meant were the raths built with the ditch and double ditches as a defensive structure to keep wandering plague carriers away from the householders?
Have you heard of that hypotheses before?

I'd say the majority of people dying from plague just were left where they fell in those times.

Apologies for the mix up! I read it wrong lol

Well, they weren't defensive like a castle etc but I think it was like creating a boundary with the homestead and the rest of the world. But yes it would have kept people out who they didn't want in but also protecting animals etc

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

What % of that 40,000 would have had tunnels running from them. There is a very obvious dip in the land running from ours. It runs almost level at the top of a hill, so is not as a result of flowing water etc. It could be the effects of ploughing though. A sod or two turned different directions from the same line.

I never thought of that but also never seen it come up inthe literature. Depending on the use of that particular fort it could have been used as an underground storage for grains etc.

The only tunnelling I've read about is from animals using them as dens so it's possible.

patsy_mccabe · 11-07-2019 1:52pm

This tunnel, if it's there, wasn't dug by animals. That's for sure.

cdgalwegian · 11-07-2019 3:58pm

mlem123 wrote: »

I wouldn't say you were wrong, but for the most part I'd say most if not all are man made creations, but because they've been reclaimed by nature they look like a natural part of the landscape.

Sorry, you've lost me there. Fairy rings are the small circular mounds, due to mushroom growth, often with hawthorns growing in them, and are therefore natural not man-made creations, and can't be "reclaimed by nature to look like a natural part of the landscape", as they already are a natural part of it. So I'm not sure what you are referring to, as I previously had said that rundown ringforts can also look like part of the natural landscape- just like many fairy forts.

I hope I'm not coming across as defensive: I just don't understand what you're actually referring to.:)

tibruit · 11-07-2019 4:40pm

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

This tunnel, if it's there, wasn't dug by animals. That's for sure.

It sounds like you've got yourself a souteraine that has collapsed in on itself. They are underground tunnels that are quite common in ringforts. A neighbour of mine uncovered one while ploughing a few years ago that caused a bit of a stir at the time although the memory of a fort was lost, there must have been one there. They seem to have been used to store food but I'd say they were also used as a retreat for the family during stormy weather.

mlem123 · 11-07-2019 5:28pm

cdgalwegian wrote: »

Sorry, you've lost me there. Fairy rings are the small circular mounds, due to mushroom growth, often with hawthorns growing in them, and are therefore natural not man-made creations, and can't be "reclaimed by nature to look like a natural part of the landscape", as they already are a natural part of it. So I'm not sure what you are referring to, as I previously had said that rundown ringforts can also look like part of the natural landscape- just like many fairy forts.

I hope I'm not coming across as defensive: I just don't understand what you're actually referring to.:)

No you're fine, might be misunderstanding on both sides haha

Honestly, I don't know enough about Faery Forts to make great assertions, but I can picture what you mean by the rings! They just tend to be rings of mushrooms, right?

Those don't tend to be the large mounds with banks and ditches - my studies specialised in burial in early Chritianity (hence why these enclosures came up so much) but these are structures that are >1000 years old

A good example of how they look today which people often describe as Faery forts

https://images.app.goo.gl/LJbu3ciMGgtmWzYh9

cdgalwegian · 11-07-2019 7:06pm

mlem123 wrote: »

No you're fine, might be misunderstanding on both sides haha

Honestly, I don't know enough about Faery Forts to make great assertions, but I can picture what you mean by the rings! They just tend to be rings of mushrooms, right?

Those don't tend to be the large mounds with banks and ditches - my studies specialised in burial in early Chritianity (hence why these enclosures came up so much) but these are structures that are >1000 years old

A good example of how they look today which people often describe as Faery forts

https://images.app.goo.gl/LJbu3ciMGgtmWzYh9

Yeah, I think I'm trying to get my head around the equating of the archeological term of ringfort, with the folklore notion of fairy fort- as opposed to the natural formation of the fairy rings. The picture shows what could be viewed as a ringfort, or as a fairy ring- but which in this case looks more like a ringfort to me (something which could be differentiated by both a horticulturalist and an archeologist). It seems, from reading sources, that ringforts came to be called fairy forts by many people with a supernatural bent, and onwards by custom, so that they are equatable. It seems also that the term has been co-opted by archeologists into their official lexicon, and is equatable for this reason (can this be confirmed?).
Beyond this, I wonder/theorize though, if what are called many fairy forts- and assumed to be ring forts- are in fact fairy rings. A rundown single-circle ringfort can look very much like an ancient fairy ring.

Say my name · 11-07-2019 7:12pm

What's a circular growth of fungi in a suburban lawn called?

cdgalwegian · 11-07-2019 7:14pm

Go on...

Say my name · 11-07-2019 7:15pm

A fairy ring.

cdgalwegian · 11-07-2019 7:16pm

That was my first thought, but then thought it was too obvious!

Fairy rings

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