Bowermanโ€™s Nose

This entry was originally posted on my Facebook page, where I wanted to post a photograph of Bowermanโ€™s Nose with a little bit more information than I usually do - as per usual I got bogged down in research and it eventually flicked a switch thatโ€™s been needing flicking for some time ๐Ÿคฃ

Below is pretty much the original post verbatim โ€ฆ though I do intend to add to it and embellish it in the future โ€ฆ also I plan to update it with any more information I can dig up!

Bowerman's Nose - shot on a crappy Pentax 110 lens adapted for my Sony a7r ... I quite like the effect ... do you know the legend behind the name?

As with most myths and legends there seems to be little logic or even the pretense of coherence between the various lines of thought ... one idea revolves around the belief the stack of rocks was some kind of Rock Idol (and we're not talking Jimi Hendrix here) ... commentators even suggesting that Druids carved the stones to this shape ๐Ÿ˜

This idea seems to be prevalent in the early nineteenth century - drawing a lot of weight from Plymouth born poet Nicholas Toms Carrington in his "Dartmoor" poem ... circa 1834

"๐˜–๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ

๐˜–๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ,

๐˜ˆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ! ๐˜๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด

๐˜ˆ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ'๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ณ.

๐˜ˆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ ; - ๐˜ข ๐˜Ž๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ !

- ๐˜›๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ง๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ

๐˜๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ'๐˜ฅ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ

๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต,

(๐˜ž๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ,) ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด

- ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ."


Carrington himself, writing in the notes to his poem says;

"๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘๐‘–๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘˜๐‘  ๐‘ข๐‘๐‘œ๐‘› ๐ป๐‘’๐‘–๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐ท๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘€๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘›, ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘–๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘› 30 ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘’๐‘ก. ๐ด๐‘ก ๐‘Ž ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘Ž ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘”๐‘–๐‘”๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘”๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’, ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ก, ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘Ž ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘Ž๐‘โ„Ž, ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘๐‘”๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’, ๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘”๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘–๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘œ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ. ๐ผ๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘›๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘™, ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐ต๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›'๐‘  ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘’, ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐ถ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ž๐‘ข๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ'๐‘  ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘š๐‘’, ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘œ ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐ป๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐ป๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘€๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘›. ๐ผ๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘‡๐‘ค๐‘œ ๐ต๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘”๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘‡๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘๐‘˜ ๐ท๐‘Ÿ. ๐ต๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘€๐‘Ÿ. ๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘Ž ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐ธ๐‘”๐‘ฆ๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘†๐‘โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ฅ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘Ž ๐‘š๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’."

He goes on to expound the idea that those who think druids didn't have anything to do with Dartmoor are obviously deluded.

In 1900 the famous Rev Sabine Baring Gould in his "A Book of Dartmoor" says unequivocally that:

"๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’, ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘’๐‘‘, ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘๐‘–๐‘™๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘˜, ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘“๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘™, ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘š ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘๐‘’๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘."

Being a Christian it's not surprising he's keen to distance himself from the idea of druids (just pointing out, not judging).


Now, many of you (who are perhaps aware of the witch/hare/hunter/hounds scenario) will be wondering where the hell that perfectly formed story is in my ramblings ... and that's where it gets interesting (well, at least to me).

I've always (I believed) been aware of this story ... proud hunter, witches, yadda yadda ... guess what? Seems to have zero basis in anything ...

My own copy of "The Homeland Handbooks - Dartmoor" ... 1913

In fact, whilst re-reading my own copy of "The Witchcraft and Folklore of Dartmoor" by renowned local journalist and author from  Sticklepath; Ruth E. St. Leger-Gordon; I was surprised to notice this observation from a Dartmoor resident famed for collecting stories about witches and local folklore;

"๐ต๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘Ž ๐‘ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ, ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘™๐‘ฆ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘’๐‘ก. ๐‘Š๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘› โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘š ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐‘Ž ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘’๐‘”๐‘”. ๐‘Š๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘Ž ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ก-๐‘™๐‘–๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘”๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘  โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘š โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘’, ๐‘–๐‘“ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ž ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘”๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘”๐‘’๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘  ๐ต๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›. ๐‘Œ๐‘’๐‘ก, ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘ฆ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘š๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ÿ, ๐‘›๐‘œ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘‘๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘“ "๐‘š๐‘’๐‘›". ๐ด๐‘›๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘‘ ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘š๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘, ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐ต๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›'๐‘  ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘š. ๐ด๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘š ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐ท๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘  ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘›๐‘œ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘๐‘’๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘๐‘ฆ ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’, ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘’๐‘ก ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐ถ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘’๐‘›. ๐ต๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘  โ€” ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  โ€” ๐‘ฃ๐‘Ž๐‘ค๐‘Ÿ-๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘’๐‘›, ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ "๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’". ๐‘†๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘๐‘œ๐‘‘๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ "๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘’" ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ; ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘š๐‘ฆ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ค-๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘œ, ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐‘ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘˜๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’, ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘ก๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘Ž ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘ฆ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘š ๐‘Ž๐‘“๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐ถ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ž๐‘ข๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก."

I got excited by the mention of "๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘ฆ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘š๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ÿ" ... yet this is obviously a reference to the "nose" bit.

Written in 1972, this can only mean that the "Legend" must have been "discovered" sometime between 1973 and when it appears in any sort of written form.

My own copy of "The Folklore of Devon" published in 1977 by Ralph Whitlock does not mention Bowerman's Nose at all. Seems like a terrible omission.

I've carried out numerous searches and catalogued many well quoted sources from before this date that also make no mention of witches ...

"The face of Dartmoor : a wilderness in colour" published in 1985 is the first mention of witches and turning to stone that I can find (not saying there aren't more) and even then the mention is of the Hounds of Bowerman being turned to stone and forming Hound Tor ... nothing of Bowerman himself.

"๐ด ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘˜ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘  ๐‘๐‘’๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘”๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐ต๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘ก๐‘ฆ โ„Ž๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ, ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘œ ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘ฆ ๐‘Ž ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘โ„Ž."

So, logic lets us know that sometime between 1977 and 1985 the now ever encompassing story that you'll find on nearly every internet search result for "Bowerman's Nose" was concocted.

It was around the eighties, and we'd just had the Star Wars phenomenon, so I deduce that unemployment, pubs and a renewed interest in Joseph Campbells work might be at the heart of this mystery  ๐Ÿคฃ

From "Devon 100 years ago" by Frank Graham - Publication date 1969 - From a drawing by John Tucker 1860

Let's not get ahead of ourselves whilst we read this meandering dismantling of greatly loved and oft repeated stories ... I don't actually care very much.

Legends are, frankly, made up stories and as such will have (no doubt) always been embellished ... added to and at some point older stories (most likely from another part of the world) been adapted and altered for a local audience ...

Stories are actually few and far between ...  if you'd like to Google Kurt Vonnegut - The Shapes of Stories you'll see what I mean. ๐Ÿคฃ ... I digress)

My quest to discover the true "author" of the Legend (I have been on eBay and AbeBooks to add to my arsenal) ... if you have a definitive source, please let me know.

From "A Book of Dartmoor" by Rev Sabine Baring-Gould - Publication date 1900

- From a drawing by A. B. Collier, Esq.

Look at those illustrations of Bowerman's Nose, I'm no artist, but I'm fairly sure I could scribble something today which in 100 years would still be recognisable as the stack of stones we know (and the surrounding scenery).

I suggest that at least one of those artists might never have actually been to Hayne Down, and if they had, they obviously lied about their qualifications ๐Ÿคฃ

There is no point to this,  I like to read about Dartmoor, I like to research stuff ('cus it's fun to me), and I like to speculate, nothing more. I take photographs which the internet ignores, so now I might write a bit more and that will get ignored ... I don't care ๐Ÿคฃ

What really interests me is how easily we can be swayed by an idea that fits with our world view.

How reading something, seeing something, repeating something, without checking it, means we could forever live in ignorance.

Which suits some.





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