As Samhain, now known as Halloween, approaches, please join us on a quest to discover cosmos and chaos in the fascinating landscape around Crawick and the outskirts of Sanquhar. This area has a very strong cultural connection through its story telling traditions with witchcraft, folklore and strong religious beliefs
In Celtic times Samhain was the biggest and most significant holiday of the Celtic year. The Celts believed that at the time of Samhain, more so than any other time of the year, the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living, because at Samhain the souls of those who had died during the year traveled into the otherworld. Eventually Samhain became the Halloween we are familiar with when Christian missionaries attempted to change the religious practices of the Celtic people, however the beliefs associated with Samhain still live on as part of Halloween.
Later on in the 16th to the 18th century, people believed God created order and saw chaos as very negative. Remote and wild areas often became associated with chaos while order is to be found in landscapes associated with buildings, gardens, parklands and the enclosures created during periods of agricultural improvement.
We will be exploring these landscape places and discussing the origins of the stories connected with witches, ghosts, murder and even the Devil himself and what the real purpose of these stories may have been.
What: Professor David Munro will take us on a journey from the heart of Sanquhar to St Bride’s Church and its holy well, then on to Crawick with its forge, mill and massive railway viaduct. Entering the Holm woods, we follow the Crawick Water to the Witches Linn, a spot associated with witches, before climbing up to the edge of Sanquhar Moor and back into town via what remains of the old brick works.”
Professor Munro is a geographer with expertise in landscape, mapping and places names, and has a keen interest in place names and their origins, as well as the environment and its future. He has got to know the landscape of Nithsdale well as geographer in residence at Drumlanrig Castle, archiving the estate maps and uncovering hidden stories and little known historical and geographical artefacts.
With a sense of adventure and curiosity Professor Munro will take us on a journey to uncover how folklore and stories of witchcraft are embedded into the surrounding landscape and heritage of Sanquhar, uncovering links between the stories, the place names and the landscape. Professor Munro will be joined by Dr Jan Hogarth, an environmental artist passionate about connecting people with landscape and the forces of nature. We will explore questions such as where these stories came from? Why were they there, was fear about witchcraft a way of controlling people? Were the place names designed to keep people away from certain places, why? Why did people feared chaos and attempted to create order from nature?
Guide: Geographer Professor David Munro supported by environmental artist, Jan Hogarth
When and Where: Sunday 22nd October, meeting at 11am at A the Arts, Sanquhar. Please bring a packed lunch and be prepared for all weather conditions on our adventure.
To book please contact us my email at jan@wide-open.net or tel. 07801232229.
Quest for Explorers – Stone and Stories 