Hagstones: Peeping Through A Hole For A Different Perspective

One of my favourite spots by the sea is just a ten minute walk from my Brixham home. I thought it was a secret. But then a few years back one of the national newspapers named Fishcombe Cove as one of the top ten most beautiful beaches in the country. Bah! During that summer it was chocker block with noisy sightseers on land and sea. Most of the time though it’s thankfully peaceful. I love to sit by the shore or go for a little dip all year around.

Beachcombing is a bit of a passion for me. It’s one of those retirement hobbies that don’t cost a penny. One spring day a few years ago I went to down to the cove with my nephew and his partner to see what treasure we could find. Ben picked up this heart-shaped hagstone and gave it to me. I now wear it on a chain around my neck.

Now my hagstone has no monetary value but, of course, it’s very special. Incidentally while researching this article I’ve read that hagstones are not supposed to be gifted. They’re meant to find you and you’re supposed to pick your own one up. I’m going to make an exception to this rule in this case.

All About Hagstones

People have prized these holey pebbles for many a century. Along the way they’ve acquired cute names that include witchy or adder stones or serpents eggs. Apparently they’re fairly rare worldwide but I’ve found loads in my lifetime on British beaches. The most common reason for the hole is erosion but some sources say that creatures called piddocks can bore it. Now that must be quite a tough little beastie to be able to do that.

Of course an object so weird and wonderful will be viewed as having special powers of protection, healing or the bringers of good luck. Keep one by your bed and you might be able to stop nightmares or entities stealing your power. If you come across a fairy or witch in disguise you’ll allegedly be able to see through their deception if you look at them through that hole.

Some cultures use them to promote fertility, others to cure snake bites and all sorts of other ailments including whooping cough and broken bones. They are said to protect sailors at sea and cattle in their barns. They really have been very useful little objects historically from a woo-woo perspective.

Personal Meaning

I’ve had great fun looking through the hole of my own hagstone and enjoying the different perspective its narrowed viewpoint gives me. It’s quite incredible to think just how long it must have taken for the water to bore that opening through the middle of such a tough subject like that. It takes tenacity. I can really see why people, today and in our ancestral past, have treasured them. And of course my nephew gave me mines to me as a token of his love. That makes it very special indeed.

Disclaimer

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