Reverse engineering

[Boreades]

Yes, I think we did do that, back in the days when we were looking at Stonehenge/Glastonbury/Lundy alignments and the like.

I've added an extended version of that same longitude to our CartoDB map.

As best I can judge, it goes from the western tip of the Shetlands, as you'd expect down through Britain, across France (joining a way west of Mont St.Michel, departing near Les Sables-d'Olonne (some way east of Carnac, but near La Roche sur Yon and La Rochelle), reaching Spain at Irun, deaprting near Garrucha, and then down to near Ghazaouet in Algeria.

Out of curiosity, I did try projecting further south as far as latitude 30 (as per the Great Pyramid at Giza) but I was figuratively lost in the Sahara Desert, with nothing to see but sand.

See https://tme.cartodb.com/viz/9e11e430-2f ... 54a1cb/map

[hvered]

Thanks for doing that, Borry.

I used Google Earth and found drawing a line due north from Stonehenge ended at Lindisfarne Beach, Holy Island. The connection was completely new to me, is it well-known in megalithic circles?

[Boreades]

This might be a cue for someone with a better memory than me. I don't remember Lindisfarne/Holy Island having any special megalithic connections)?), but it does have some excellent Celtic Saint connections.

Whitby is not far down the coast, and the (in)famous Synod of Whitby was where the Roman brand of Christianity overtook the "Celtic"/Iona version in North Britain. In case I'm accused of unfair bias against Popery, perhaps I should slyly mention it was calendars wot caused the trouble. One of the main reasons the Synod of Whitby was convened was to sort out the mess of when Easter was supposed to be.

An appeal to authority won the day.

The episcopal seat of Northumbria was transferred from Lindisfarne to York. Wilfrid, chief advocate for the Roman position, later became Bishop of Northumbria, while Colmán and the Ionan supporters who did not change their practices withdrew to Iona. Colmán was allowed to take some relics of Aidan, who had been central in establishing Christianity of the Ionan tradition in Northumbria, with him back to Iona.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synod_of_Whitby

[hvered]

Lindisfarne is a causewayed tidal island. As we've discussed these islands are quintessential Megalithic features.

The line due north from Stonehenge appears to pass right over the causeway. It's hard to tell sometimes on Google Earth so if someone else can check and correct or confirm, that would be much appreciated.

[Mick Harper]

This is not the least curious thing about the tidal islands -- the causeway, and not the island, seems to be the important point (cf Jethou and Portland causeways that are due north/south).

[hvered]

Wiki says that the name Lindisfarne/Holy Island was written Medcaut in the ninth-century Historia Brittonum and no-one knows why. 'Mid-cut' might not be far off the mark. What are the chances that a line due north of Stonehenge would cut across the causeway of an insignificant offshore island?

To the south of the causeway, immediately east of the A1 Great North Road, the line passes St Mary's Church, built on a hill overlooking the village of Belford. About ten miles south of Belford it crosses a tiny village, Eglingham, not much more than a pub and a church dedicated to St Maurice, a saint with quite an international flavour judging by his patronage, namely

against cramps; alpine troops; Appenzell Innerrhoden;[2] armies; armorers; Burgundians; Carolingian dynasty;[2] Austria; clothmakers;[3] cramps; dyers; gout; House of Savoy;[2] infantrymen; Lombards; Merovingians;[2] Piedmont, Italy; Pontifical Swiss Guards; Saint-Maurice-en-Valais; St. Moritz;[2]Sardinia; soldiers; Stadtsulza, Germany; swordsmiths; weavers; Holy Roman Emperors

Another ten miles or so to the south it passes to the west of Edlingham, also not much more than a tiny St John the Baptist church and a castle. Wiki says of Edlington that "a Roman road, the Devil's Causeway, passes the western edge of the village". This Devil's Causeway was apparently the main northern route through Northumbria, ending at Berwick-on-Tweed. I'd never heard of it before.

[Boreades]

Medcaut?

Given that the Ionian (Celtic Saints) monasteries did assimilate Druids, is it too much of a leap of faith to see a connection to names like Mediolanum.

Where's Graham Robb these days?

[hvered]

Spiral might like this... the tip of north-east Scotland is called 'The Knuckle'. The tip, Rattray Head, is marked by a lighthouse, connected by a causeway that's only accessible at low tide.

It's hard to tell from the sparse description whether the causeway was built in the nineteenth century by the Stevensons and their team or whether it was a pre-existing feature. Rattray however was the site of a castle built on 'a rock near the sea' which might fit the bill.

Rattray became a royal burgh in 1563-1564 and at one time had its own castle on ‘Castlehill’ built by the Comyns. It is thought that this castle which once stood on a rock near the sea was burned to the ground by Edward Bruce younger brother of Robert the Bruce during the ‘Harrying of Buchan’, in 1308 or another less credible version is that it was overcome with the shifting sands. Rattray once had a good natural harbour but by 1654 it was becoming badly silted.

Before the entrance was silted up, this part of the coast had an opening into a 'land-locked salt-water basin'. Looks or sounds vaguely familiar. This sandy coastline, measured as 25,000 yards, is known for its nine castles, the 'Nine Castles of the Knuckle' so presumably most or all earlier constructions, if any existed, would have been subsumed into later projects.



Rattray, Rattery, Rathen...variations of 'Rat' names, something we puzzled over briefly in connection with one or two Rat Islands.

[hvered]

The problem of course with 'shifting coastlines' is that even though it's very exciting to find a north-south line connects Rattray and Stonehenge, there's a strong possibility it wasn't always thus. Of course the existence of a causewayed tidal island wouldn't prove anything conclusive either though circumstantial evidence seems to be all one can go on.

[Mick Harper]

Mention of the Comyns is interesting. They would seem to be a 'Norman' family even though they also seem to have taken over a clan. TME assumes that the Normans are latterday Megalithics responsible for long distance navigational infrastructure.

It's important we tie down this 'rat' business.