book, sadly, contains many archeological, historical, and philological points which are either now proven false or were completely surmised to begin with.
Take as only one example the assumption, simply put, that because ley men carried staffs, and priests and other figures of power also carry staffs, they are therefore linked.
The links to druids also fall flat, though more disappointingly due to the fact that Watkins, as so many still do, took Victorian fabrications as true.
In many cases Watkins cannot be held entirely at fault, as he often relied on information gathered from sources which are now outdated or were incomplete, but he did however, as can be seen in examples throughout the book, fall into conjecture and what can only be described as confirmation bias.
The theory of leys itself, is at its best coincidental, and at its worst unjustified, In mountainous regions, Watkins' presumption that we cannot hope to understand the prehistoric mind must at least lead us to assume that they were inherently stupid.
It is unfeasible that someone wishing to get to get to the Neolithic axe factory on Pike O'Stickle one of the largest in Europe, and a site which Watkins himself would surely place on a ley would scale theor so foot of scree from the valley floor, or coming from Wasdale drop into the valley only to have the gruelling slog back up again.
This book explores many Neolithic, bronze age, Celtic, AngloSaxon and Roman sites of interest such as mounds, cairns, and standing stones with a detail not too great, nor too shallow, and this is where its value lies.
In this expansive view of a landscape, not quite linked by the 'fairychain' Watkins hoped it to be, but nonetheless mysterious and enchanting, the reader may find their own questions about solar alignment, the significance of staffs in positions of power, the chronology of the British landscape, and the possibility of a few real leys, which may be better explored elsewhere.
A last point may be made in favour of this book, rather sadly, due to its inherent nostalgia.
Watkins' landscape has not only changed with regards to more up to date science, but has itself physically and significantly changed.
I know myself of standing stones toppled, mounds dug up and ploughed over, How long before we encroach on these places which are not all deemed worthy of protection The image of Watkins himself doddering over the landscape is one transformed into bank holiday masses and people searching for mountain ziplines, or preplanned commercial 'adventure'.
I picked this fellow up at Ken Sanders Rare Bookstore, a title Ive meant to read for sometime but always slipped my mind.
In this book is one of the first surveys of hidden geography by Alfred Watkins who also coined the term ley line.
This is a first reader into the subject and Im anxious to read his other works,
A foundational text in the Earth Mysteries movement, however Watkins did not ascribe any occult meaning into his research.
blows a kiss to the sky for gansey A very English psychogeography and eclectic reasoning of the landscape, Excellent foreword which prepared me for the long, rambling detailed description of the book, Quite bonkers but skimmed most of it, classic text on leys with the author's photos of longvanished ancient monuments
I avoid interpretation of placenames as much as possible in this book, and only do so where it aids in the explanation of the sighted track, but then give the evidence with some fullness.p.
I actually laughed out loud when I read this line about/of the way through the book, Pretty much all the book consists of is Watkins raddling off long lists of placenames that he's derive some sort of interpretation from.
Do yourself a favor and instead of slouching through this tome, stick to the foreword, introduction and last chapter.
If something in the last chapter confounds you, you can always go back and skim,
Though, I suppose the book would have been much more interesting if you're were actually personally familiar with all the places Watkins "researches".
Alfred Watkins was the first researcher to really understand the significance of what we now call 'ley lines' in this country.
Through what must have been hundreds of hours of research, he collected tonnes of information and put it all together for this lucid and engaging work that seeks to explain and explore the subject in undeniable depth.
THE OLD STRAIGHT TRACK puts forward his theory that our prehistoric ancestors used local landmarks to craft straightrunning tracks throughout the landscape for their own convenience.
Many of these tracks are still visible today, despite the Industrial Revolution and the ploughing of fields to destroy evidence.
There are different chapters on standing stones, on barrows, on churches, moats and ponds, all of them clearly detailing the author's hypothesis that these sites were once linked in the landscape.
Don't go in expecting this to be an esoteric read the idea of energy being channelled along ley lines came later.
There's no 'magick' stuff here, just straightforward fact, there for anyone with enough interest to see for themselves, I found the author's style very engaging and educational, even though a lot of the stuff from this era has a tendency towards dryness.
His theories are clear, well defined and it's obvious that he's spent a lot of time both out in the field and in book research.
If I had a complaint, it would be that his reallife examples are mainly kept to Herefordshire, but we have to remember that just one man wrote this book in the days long before the advance of the internet.
All in all, I think it's a remarkable piece of writing that's upped my interest in British history no end.
Thank god that is over with, Just stubborn, bloodyminded obstinacy prevented me from abandoning this book half way through, I suppose it is unfair to be too harsh because I did enjoy some aspects of it, such as those chapters dealing with place names.
But the rest I found to be tedious and uninteresting speculation,
It is a wellliked book which will continue to be read, just never by me again, I enjoyed this. I'm a keen walker and notice many things around me as I walk, The idea of straight lines and aligned features in the landscape, built or placed by ancient peoples to guide their way is appealing and exploring old forgotten pathways is something I'll be doing more of in the months to come.
A very interesting book. I learned quite a lot from this book which I was unaware of before, Interesting read on ley lines, This took me a while to read, dipping in and out of it, It posits the theory of that prehistoric manmade features of the land such as barrows and standing stones lining up marking straight tracks or ley lines.
His theories have been debunked but I find it quite plausible that the ancestors could have used this system and I enjoyed reading about his interests that support his theories such as place names, folklore and seeing the photos of the physical evidence.
I look forward to visiting some of the places featured and I will read up more on the subject and plan to look into energy lines too.
ATLANTIS obvs Rec: Ben Aaronovotchs The Hanging Tree chapter: “Angry Birds” Cozy read overall, like having a chat with a bloke in a pub.
If youre interested, but dont want all the detail, his overview in chapteris beautifully written, Already making me perceive the landscape with slightly different eyes, Obviously this seeded all sorts of interesting metaphysical interpretations of leys since it was written in, The most interesting but frustrating book I read on that “Alien Energy” by Andrew Collins tied the concept in with Reichs orgone energy concept.
I gained an interest of ley lines through pursuing crop circles and Silbury Hill, This is both detailed and gripping! Originally published in, this book by Alfred Watkins bought the concept of ley lines to the public.
The concept came to him after visiting a Roman excavation and looking at the map to get a perspective on the wider landscape, he saw that a number of features seemed to line up.
When he had the opportunity to get to higher ground he had the opportunity to look at the landscape and see that these features had straight paths running between them.
He came to believe that the people of this country had made a series of straight paths through the forests with the prominent features being used for guide and navigation.
He first presented this theory of leys at a public meeting in, and went on to develop his theories to present in this book.
Controversial at the time, the Antiquity magazine refused to publish even an advert for his book, it captured the imagination of the public.
He was an excellent PR man, using pagan rites to demonstrate and promote his work, and it inspired generations of readers and walkers to take a closer look at the country that they walked through.
The concept of lines passing over hill and dale were picked up by those seeking to rediscover the the mysticism and ancient ways of the Celts and reenchant the English landscape.
There was only one flaw though none of it was really true, It can be proven that given the sheer quantity of ancient and prehistorical sites in the landscape that the chances of them lining up is as much coincidence as it is design.
This page: sitelink wikipedia. org/wiki/Leylin shows just how a random collection ofsites can giveor so four point alignments, Richard Atkinson, an archaeologist, has even proved that red telephone boxes could produce their own leys by lining up.
Theories aside, this is still worth reading, Firstly, it is a classic piece of text on the English landscape, Secondly, the eloquent and atmospheric text and the black and white images and maps that are liberally scattered throughout the book giving us a snapshot of the English countryside between the two world wars before big farms and pylons spoilt some of the finest views.
At the time the science of excavation was starting to change and improve, Watkins may have prompted people to look at and discover the genuine links between sites in the wider context of the landscape.
Read his book decades ago and was as fascinated then as I still am now, having discovered and mapped my own ley lines in my last work on Co.
Wexford, Ireland on Ireland's most haunted house, Loftus Hall Loftus The Hall of Dreams, Watkins coined the term "ley line" used to refer to energy lines that run through sacred sites also known as energy lines or "dragon lines" in China.
He was well ahead of his time as indeed, recent scientific trends have confirmed that everything IS made up of energy so knowing about energy lines is essential, especially when studying the past.
A must for all history and archaeology lovers!/
The book itself was pretty awful in some senses but the concept and content absolutely fascinating and mindblowing.
The book was written almostyears ago and this definitely shows, Watkins may be a genius, and that I dont doubt, but writing is not his forte, He knows the word antiquity thats for sure, The absolute worst thing about the book is the pictures! Firstly, those and all the diagrams referenced throughout the book abouttotal were scattered completely illogically on different pages so I had to constantly flick back and forth and had no idea where to find them, very frustrating! The pictures were black and white and very poor quality.
This could easily be updated and would lend itself hugely to the reading experience maybe it even has been updated! Looks up theoldstraighttrack.
com dont worry, it doesnt exist but it should,
Those complaints aside and maybe also the slightly illogical structure of the book, the concept, discovery and evidenced wonder of ley lines is just wonderful.
“How early it was that the beginnings of the
ley system came must be a surmise but if it came as soon as man began to import flint or flint implements, it could not well be less than,B.
C. , that is, long before the Neolithic period commenced in Britain, ” Well, this certainly corrected my completely inaccurate knowledge that humans had only been around for a couple thousand years!!
Watkins gives hugely detailed and convincing evidence and arguments for the ley lines.
Prior to reading this book, I thought they were just pathways carrying magical currents but now I know the true meaning that they are very ancient trackways of our ancestors.
I love the idea of the subtle remaining indicators mark stones, notches, castles, mounds etc, There was also some other fascinating history including the origin of some surnames and words in English including Totman, sale, and that black used to mean white/light!
The setting in England was familiar but foreign, Im sure for someone reading this and coming from or really knowing the areas mentioned i.
e. Herefordshire, it would be even more magical to read,
I would also highly recommend this to someone with keen historical interest, Hopefully, others can overlook or find an alternative to the mismatched pages/fig, numbers fiasco.
A few memorable quotes from the end of the book:
“The wayfarers instructions are still deeply rooted in the peasant mind today when he tells you quite wrongly now “You just keep straight on”.
”
“Out from the soil we wrench a new knowledge, of old, old human skill and effort, that came to the making of this England of ours.
”
I shall dream of the ley lines,
.