The Altar Stones of Ilkley
Is a British goddess to be found on the slopes of Ilkley Moor? Gyrus seeks out the lady in the landscape (from Northern Earth 78).
The All Saints Parish Church of Ilkley, off Brook Street near the banks of the River Wharfe, stands on the former grounds of the Roman fort of Olicana. As you enter it, on the left you are confronted with an impressive Anglo-Saxon cross. Hidden in the shadows behind it are two 'Roman' altar stones, which, I believe, are highly significant to the pagan history of the Wharfedale region of Yorkshire.
The stones were found built into the northwest corner of the church, having been recut for use by the builders. The one on the right shows a pitcher and a patera (a flat dish with a handle used to pour items such as grain onto fires in sacrificial rites). The stone on the left (fig. 1) depicts an apparently female form, with a long pleated robe, what appears to be a shaped headdress, and holding two sinuous objects in her hands. The plaque next to the stone says that these objects are torches, and bizarrely identifies the figure as the Greek earth and barley goddess Demeter.
With these assertions it flies in the face of nearly all researchers who have looked at these relics! The held objects are usually (and rightly, I think), taken to be snakes. And the deity herself is identified by another altar stone, which was found by Camden in the 16th century being used to support steps in a house. The inscription on the stone (a rough facsimile of which can be seen in the Manor House Museum) translates as: "To Verbeia. Sacred. Clodius Fronto. Ded. Prefect of the Cohort, Second Lingones." (Collyer & Turner: 25).
Camden guessed that 'Verbeia' was the goddess of the Wharfe, and that the altar had been set up in relieved gratitude by Clodius Fronto after nearly coming a cropper in the river. Camden, having had a similar experience, turned to the Old English guer, 'rapid, rough', for the origins of the goddess' name.
This is a dubious derivation, but Verbeia is certainly bound to the Wharfe, both mythically and etymologically. The first written references to this river are in a letter by Simeon of Durham, who spells it 'Hwerver' and 'Hwerf' (ibid: 26). Middle English hwerfen means 'turn' or 'change', so these names obviously echo the winding of the river; also, hwerfen was spelt by Ormin, in 12th century Lincolnshire, as wharfen. The Latin vertere also means 'to turn'. The Anglo-Saxon wer-bÊre ('a weir where fish are caught') is the closest archaic word to 'Verbeia' we have, yet the Anglo-Saxons invaded well after the altars were carved. Wetherby, further along the Wharfe, is worth noting here.
Recent researchers have suggested that this place-name is derived from the Scandinavian vedr, or Old English weder, both meaning 'sheep'-implying that Wetherby was formerly a sheep farm. There seems to be no evidence for this, though, and the town's name-which has been variously recorded as Wargebi, Werebi, Wederby and Wedderby-most likely derived from 'turning' words like the British root uerb ('wind, turn') and/or the Anglo-Saxon wer ('a fence of stakes or twigs set in a stream for taking fish'). The Wharfe has been an important fishing river through the ages, and le Heckes (signifying the same fishing device as wer) is in the earliest extant list of family names in the Wetherby township. "Given its location on a bend, and if it is accepted that it was a mansiones (or posting station) during the Roman period, it is not inconceivable that the original place-name of Wetherby may have had within it the elements uerb or Verbeiae." (Unwin: 8).
The density of connections between the possible British, Latin and Anglo-Saxon etymologies of 'Verbeia', 'Wharfe' and 'Wetherby' suggests a very ancient root to 'ver' and 'wer'; perhaps the Indo-European root *WERT, 'to turn, become'. Indeed, Cope cites 'Ver' as one of a series of possible proto-Neolithic goddess names, which have profoundly influenced language, especially place-names associated with archaic monuments and sacred landscapes (Cope: 53-55).
Verbeia is further connected to the waterways of the region by the two snakes she holds. The Roman fort where her altar stood was once flanked by two streams running down from Rombald's Moor into the Wharfe. One of these is now diverted underground at the top of the aptly named Brook Street, which runs along its former course towards the river. It is possible that as the tutelary deity of the Lingones Cohort, the form of Verbeia was shown with two snakes in order to represent the two serpentine streams that flowed either side of the fort.
Verbeia the Deity
What was Verbeia's nature? She was obviously a Water Goddess, associated with the life-giving and life-taking powers of the Wharfe and its tributaries. The latter aspect is most memorably manifest these days, especially at the Strid, further up the Wharfe, which regularly claims lives. As well as relating tales of pernicious female water elementals such as Jenny Greenteeth and Grindylow, folklore tells us that the goddess of the river manifests at the Strid as a white horse before she claims a victim (Clarke & Roberts: 90). A Wharfedale resident, in correspondence with Andy Roberts and David Clarke, remembers being taken to the altar stone by her mother and being told that she was the goddess of the Wharfe, so this association is very strong locally. She recalls being taught to respect and revere the powers of the river, and says that her family is part of a long local tradition involved in simple May Day celebrations held at the source of the Wharfe. They gather offerings, mostly of flowers, on May Eve, make their way up to the source at Cam Fell, light a bonfire, and give thanks to the waters as they await dawn and welcome the return of spring (ibid: 88).
This raises two more important aspects of Verbeia: Fire & Spring. During the 19th century, when the English feared a French invasion, beacon fires were tended across the dales in the area. The beacon signal was sent from Ingleborough Hill, close to the sources of both the Wharfe and the Ribble. It may be relevant that Ptolemy associated the Ribble with the Celtic lake or river goddess Belisma, a name suggesting fiery etymological origins (Farrar:203). The signal reached Wharfedale via various intermediate hills, and was passed on via Beamsley Beacon, north of Ilkley, the Otley Chevin, and across to Almescliffe Crags. The Cow & Calf rocks above Ilkley are not listed as being part of this beacon sequence, but there is evidence that this outcrop may have inherited some of the region's tradition of hilltop fires. Speight notes that when Queen Victoria was crowned in 1838, "a great fire blazed on these famous stones, and Ilkley I am told, was 'illuminated.'" (Speight: 230)
The Latin ver means 'spring' (also, the 'turning' etymologies of Verbeia obviously associate her with the cycle of the seasons). It is interesting, in light of Verbeia's serpents, that the Latin term vernatio refers to both the renewal of vegetation in spring, and snakes' shedding of skin at this time. "In temperate [snake] species that go through a resting period, or hibernation, during the winter, shedding often takes place early in the spring almost as soon as they become active. Sexual activity is often heightened during the days immediately following this 'vernal' shed." (Mattison:32)
These Latin words derive from the Indo-European root *WES, 'to shine'. This is also the root of 'home' words like 'vernacular', and the fire/hearth goddess Vesta.
The more one looks into it, the more it seems probable that Verbeia is a very close relative of Brigid (aka Brid, Bride), who ruled over, among other things, the hearth. The connection is made stronger by the fact that Wharfedale is bang in the heart of Brigantia-Brigantia herself being a variant of Brigid-and that Brigid's festival is Imbolc, 1st February, heralding the spring. Brigid is also associated with snakes. On Bride's Day (Imbolc) in Scotland, Bride in the form of a serpent was believed to emerge from the hills. Marija Gimbutas says that "one of the most curious customs of Bride's Day was the pounding of the serpent effigy", and records an occasion when "an elderly woman put a piece of peat into a stocking and pounded it with fire-tongs while intoning: This is the day of Bride, The queen will come from the mound, I will not touch the queen, Nor will the queen touch me." (Gimbutas: 135) This legend may well be rooted in the upsurge of waters from the hills as snows melt and rains fall in spring.
Anne Ross suggests, although she admits that the idea is "in question" (Ross: 279), that 'Verbeia' may derive from the Old Irish root ferb, 'cattle', making her 'She of the Cattle'. This also resonates with Brigid, whose Christianized successor St. Bridgit was reared on the milk of a white, red-eared cow. Other river goddesses, such as the Irish Boand ('She Who Has White Cows'), make this line of thought more compelling. And then there is that marvellous outcrop on Rombald's Moor that dominates the topography around Ilkley: the Cow & Calf rocks. It remains to be seen whether these rocks can be linked to Verbeia, though there is a wealth of circumstantial evidence (see Oakley: 17-19).
A transplanted goddess?
My research into Verbeia has led me along many paths, alternately fruitful and tantalising.
One important avenue, concerning the origins of Verbeia, was opened up by Anne Ross, but was never fully explored (at least not in her magnum opus on Celtic Britain). She compares the relief of Verbeia with a very similar one found in Mavilly, France (fig. 2). Again we have the pleated robes, the two snakes (albeit held together in one hand here), plus the fire-and-spring associations, given by the upheld torch and the rising vegetation.
What Ross fails to mention is that the Roman cohort whose prefect had Verbeia's altar constructed was composed of Celtic Gauls from the Lingones tribe-whose homeland is in the very region where Mavilly is located. It seems likely to me that Verbeia is a partially 'transplanted' goddess; and further, that the terms usually applied to Verbeia, 'Romano-British' or 'Romano-Celtic', are nearly totally erroneous. Despite her origins in a Roman fort, she has next to nothing to do with Roman beliefs. It has been suggested that the Mavilly goddess is "Hygieia, goddess of health, or the river goddess Sequana (the healing springs of the source of the Seine are only thirty-five miles to the north of Mavilly)." (MacKendrick: 156) My guess is that her Gaulish name was similar to 'Verbeia', and was Latinised by Clodius Fronto.
This 'transplantation' idea inevitably leads to speculation about the exact nature of relations between the Gaulish Roman troops at Olicana and the native Brigantes. "In the nationality of the Lingones we have an interesting circumstance. As inhabitants of the Champagne district of France, they themselves were Celts, and would doubtless return the sympathy of the British tribesmen. The name of the later commander, Cargulus, carries Celtic origin in its orthography." (Bogg: 134)
Indeed, despite several uprisings by the Brigantes, there is little evidence of active warfare during the Roman occupation of the Wharfedale region. Were relations between the Celtic troops at Olicana and the Brigantes close enough to allow a cross-pollination of religious activity? It seems odd that a deity who appears to have been brought to Wharfedale from Gaul ends up drawing around her such a cluster of associative links with Brigid/Brigantia. Or was the water-snake-fire-cow-spring goddess type prevalent enough in the Celtic world for this 'coincidence' to be no surprise?
Ilkley - The Body of Verbeia?
One day I finally got round to trying to trace the two streams that flowed past Olicana back up onto the moors. The westerly stream, which originates just east from the Barmishaw Wood, seems to disappear into the grounds of the Bradford Community College. The easterly stream, as mentioned above, can be found flowing under Brook Street, its final exposure to us being a lovely oasis of vegetation among the streets on the moorside. Tracing it uphill, it winds east under the road onto the moor, and back into a small concrete pool. Then it carries on through the area downhill from the White Wells house, and, before you reach it, it becomes obvious that it is flowing from the waterfall to the west of White Wells.
Behind this fall is a curious mound, which presents itself more forcefully due to being isolated by its covering in trees. Clambering up past the ford that the waterfall creates over the pathway, and on to the mound, I became gradually but powerfully astounded at the situation. Two streams flow from further uphill and converge at the southern end of this mound. They immediately part again, flowing down past either side, only to reconverge at the bottom of the mound, where the water cascades down towards Ilkley. Perhaps the fact that the trees here are an isolated huddle had something to do with it, but for me the sense of this mound being some sacred grove was palpable. Indeed, high up at the head of the mound is to be found a grand boulder carved with cups and rings.
In case it's not obvious already, I'm not using terms like the 'bottom' and 'head' of the mound as purely mundane figures of speech! For here I saw a natural analogue of the Roman fort's situation, with two enclosing streams that may have been the inspiration for the snakes in Verbeia's hands. The feeling of it being an 'analogue' is strengthened by the fact that we're actually dealing with the same flow of water from the moor into the Wharfe. Was this mound associated with Verbeia, perhaps seen as her prone form in the land? Was it a sacred place to the Brigantes or the Gaulish troops, as it evidently was to the Neolithic or Bronze Age folk who carved the petroglyphs here?
It became more and more tempting to link the mound to Verbeia when I went back down to the waterfall again, and saw that it created the image of a flow emanating from the lower regions of this 'recumbent goddess'! Note that the snakes in the altar stone image seem to nearly converge near the goddess' vagina - this is the situation with the mound's streams, but not with the fort's.
I urge anyone interested in Verbeia to explore the place for themselves, to make up their own minds; or to let their minds wander in the odd peace and vibrancy of this suggestive mound.
N.B. This article is fully illustrated in Issue No. 78 of Northern Earth
Bibliography
The first article I wrote on Verbeia can be found in HEAD Magazine 8, available for £3.50 from BM Uplift, London, WC1N 3XX (cheques to 'HEAD'). Further research can be found in G.T. Oakley's booklet Verbeia, available for £3.50 from Rooted Media, The Cardigan Centre, 145-149 Cardigan Road, Leeds, LS6 1LJ (cheques to 'Rooted Media').
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