Bowermans Nose, Dartmoor, UK
On Dartmoor, in days of yore—even before Sherlock Holmes’s Hounds of the Baskervilles roamed that fog-swept moor terrifying young readers—a tall, strong man with a sunny disposition lived and hunted his hounds. Kindly and personable, Bowerman the Hunter, was a popular man on the moors, according to legend. He was often seen drawing across Dartmoor with his pack of hounds, reputed for relentless pursuit of their quarry.
His day was a time of witchcraft, and Bowerman’s neighbors on Dartmoor believed that witches congregated in secluded, remote areas of the moors to perform their spells. The villagers shunned such places, but the affable Bowerman laughed off all talk of such superstition and hunted the country wherever he liked.
The witches, however, were unhappy with Bowerman’s airy dismissal of their powers. They were concerned it would weaken their hold over the populace, which they secured by fear. Secretly, the witches were also afraid of Bowerman’s physical size and strength and the reputation of his hounds.
One autumn evening, as Bowerman was heading home with his hounds, a large hare bolted from covert and sped away. Bowerman whooped his hounds to the line and galloped after them across the countryside. With hounds closing, the hare jigged and ran into a wooded valley. Hounds recovered the line quickly and tore down the valley in pursuit, Bowerman galloping close behind.
Hare, hounds, and huntsman suddenly burst into a small clearing where a coven of witches were mumbling incantations around a bubbling cauldron. Hare and hounds raced through the middle of the ceremony, and with a mighty leap of Bowerman’s horse, the huntsman flew over the startled witches and the bubbling cauldron and laughed at their mumbo jumbles.
This proved too much for the witches. They decided to teach Bowerman a lesson. The valley was a dead end, and they knew he had to return home the way he came. The witches concocted their plan. One amongst them had the power to turn herself into any animal. She would lead the hounds and Bowerman on a chase toward which the rest of the witches would lie in waiting.
They soon heard hounds returning. The witch turned herself into a huge hare, and the rest disappeared. Hounds picked up the scent and took off once again. This time it was a chase to end all chases. It went on for mile after mile, back and forth across the moors, through and around the bogs, up and down the peaks and ridges, until hounds and horse were exhausted. Racing up one of the ridges, the hare slowed enough to allow hounds and huntsman to catch up, then ducked behind a tor at the summit of the peak. The witches were waiting. They surrounded Bowerman and his hounds, shrieking incantations and casting spells of petrification at the exhausted, helpless huntsman. Bowerman and his hounds were transformed into granite, where they stands to this day—one tower of stone, with a litter of boulders at its feet.
It is said that on certain dark and foggy nights, Bowerman and his hounds can still be heard hunting across Dartmoor. Perhaps, even tonight.
Lest this story discourage anyone from foxhunting across this fabulous place, one popular ending to the legend asserts that such was the fury of Bowerman’s neighbors upon hearing what happened to their amiable and generous friend, that they overcame their fear of the witches, banded together, and drove them out forever. The witches of Dartmoor were last seen, mounted on their broomsticks, being carried by the wind across the Bristol Channel into Wales. Which might go to explain some other questions!
Posted October 31, 2017