A gathering of people, strumming, singing, joking, every year for a folk fest.
Stumbling into the next song but all are welcome to join.
‘Hey, you, come and join us.’
‘What was the name of that last jig?’
‘ “She was”. Or in Devonshire dialect “She be” ‘.
“Or in Twickenham dialect, “One is” ‘.
The middle of Dartmoor.
On this site, a monolith was erected 5000 years ago.
Around about that time, early Phoenician traders and miners sailed to the south west of Britain – especially Cornwall – in search of tin. It is probable that South Zeal, on Dartmoor, was one such early settlement. Tin mining took place in Dartmoor up till recently.
The Phoenicians practiced the monolithic religion which was a reverence of death. The giant, granite monolith is 15 metres high but now ten metres are covered by earth – new life – accumulated over the Millenia.
Zeal. A strange name – not Roman, Gaelic, Anglo Saxon or Norse. Perhaps related to the biblical zealots who roamed Judea.
Recently, (about 500 years ago) the monks built their monastery around the five metre fertility monolith. Regardless of the religion, the placing of monuments was crucial according to celestial positioning, spiritual harmony and earthly lay-lines.
The monks worshipped a prophet the lands where the monolith builders hailed from.
The monks brewed beer. Now the building is a pub.
Today, the only things that remain in the building are the monolith and the beer worship.
Once a year, a folk fest gathers bringing musicians with their guitars, banjos and flutes. When you look around, the music is appropriate to the surroundings. The music is cheerful, upbeat and bounces off the leaves and flowers, echoing gently in the hills. The music isn’t too complex and anyone can start strumming along. This isn’t music to listen to – it’s music to be part of.
Over there, the morris men dance their fertility dance – rhythmically stamping the ground with bells, arousing the Earth in time for harvest. Moving in patterns creating cobwebs of energy.
