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Overview
First published in 1925, The Old Straight Track described the author's theory of 'ley lines', pre-Roman pathways consisting of aligned stone circles and prehistoric mounds, used by our Neolithic ancestors.
Watkins's ideas have intrigued and inspired generations of readers – from historians to hill walkers, and from amateur archaeologists to new-age occultists.
This edition of The Old Straight Track, with a substantial introduction by Robert Macfarlane, will appeal to all who treasure the history, contours and mystery of Britain's ancient landscapes.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781800249523 |
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Publisher: | Bloomsbury USA |
Publication date: | 01/01/2022 |
Pages: | 400 |
Product dimensions: | 5.10(w) x 7.75(h) x 1.20(d) |
About the Author
Robert Macfarlane is the prize-winning author of The Wild Places (2007) and The Old Roads (2011), Landmarks (2015) and Underland (2019). His writing has been widely adapted for television and radio. He is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Alfred Watkins was an amateur archaeologist, who was born in 1855 in Herefordshire, where he lived his entire life. In 1921, he developed his theory of ley-lines in the landscape. Watkins was a member of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, an authority on bee-keeping and a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. He died in 1935.
Robert Macfarlane is the prize-winning author of The Wild Places (2007) and The Old Roads (2011), Landmarks (2015) and Underland (2019). His writing has been widely adapted for television and radio. He is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations vii
Introduction Robert Macfarlane xii
Preface to the original edition xxxviii
Introduction Alfred Watkins xli
I Mounds 1
II Alignment of mounds 12
III Leys in Radnor Vale 24
IV Mark stones 41
V The sighted track 60
VI Water sight points 74
VII Sight notches 87
VIII Initial points 101
IX Mark trees 108
X Camps 114
XI Ley-men 127
XII Sighting staff 139
XIII Traders' tracks 149
XIV Sun alignment 163
XV Beacons 177
XVI Churches on mark-points 185
XVII Orientation 202
XVIII Castles on mark sites 209
XIX Assemblies at mark-points 224
XX Roman era 231
XXI Place-names 241
XXII Folk-lore 254
XXIII Hermes and hermit 262
XXIV In other lands 268
XXV Bible record 272
XXVI Confirmation 279
XXVII Obscurities and objections 288
XXVIII Chronology 297
XXIX Alpha and omega 302
XXX An outline 308
Appendix A Ley Hunting 315
Appendix B Buckinghamshire Leys 321
Appendix C Oxford City Leys 325
Appendix D Brecon Camps 327
Acknowledgements and select bibliography for Robert Macfarlane's introduction 329
Index 331