What happens?
At approximately 8pm, bell-ringers start to ring a normal 'peal' (if there is such a term?) before descending into a cacophony of discordance (sounds like a heavy metal song!) designed to drive evil from the village. However, knowing old nick to be a cunning fellow, the bell-ringers descend upon the local graveyard where they hunt out the Devil's Stone. This is a type of quartz stone, said to be a glacial erratic (ie it doesn't belong in the area, it must have got there by some 'other' means), which weights over a tonne - measuring approximately six by four feet.
The bell-ringers, knowing the stone to be covering old nick's local pied-a-terre, come armed with crowbars and proceed to 'flip' the stone by heaving it out of the ground and turning it over. Failure to do this would result in the evil doings befalling and befouling the village. Catastrophe averted, all present retire to the local pub - The Devil's Stone Inn; haunted, of course - for much needed refreshment.
The origins
The stone may well be a glacial erratic carried to the spot during an ice age. It could also be a standing stone, a pagan altar, or a stone dropped from the sky by the devil - possibly from a nearby church, preventing its construction. Others say it dropped out of the devil's pocket when he was cast out of heaven by St Michael. Whatever the stone's origin, the ritual resonates as one of ensuring good luck for a community, which may well have been remote from its neighbours when the custom was first practised - some theorise it dates to Saxon times, while its first written record dates from 1870.
Where to find more
- The Modern Antiquarian - Shebbear Stone - some nice pics and associated folklore
- Information Britain
- Shebbear Village - pdf collecting articles, found on the village website
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