Threaded Hag Stones
These stones are probably one of the most authentic examples of ongoing folk traditions in the New Forest, caught up in Forest superstition surrounding the Colt Pixy: a local trickster spirit that took the shape of a New Forest Pony and was known to haunt the moors. For centuries, threaded hag stones such as these were hung beside doorways to protect from such malignant spirits.
Hag Stones were also used for the observation of spirits. This is something that Tom Charman would have practiced, the belief that Forest spirits can be more easily seen through the hole of a Hag Stone, or ‘Holy Stone’. In the north of England, the hag stone is known as a dobbie stone, referring to the ‘Dobbie’, a ghostly black horse – which, in the same way, can more easily be seen through a hag stone.
In the New Forest there are a whole host of other superstitions surrounding the horse, from high-held tails forecasting bad weather to more complicated folk charms. Knotted horsehair was used for fertility, and plaited into rings which were considered to have lucky powers.
– Vikki Bramshaw, author of the book ‘New Forest Folklore, Traditions & Charms’.