Hagstones

A few months ago we explored the uses of hagstones in Marsh Ink Writers' Group. These stones, found on local beaches, have holes running through them, worn through many years of erosion. People often collect them and sometimes thread them with wire or string. A book of local anecdotes educated the group about some of the magical purposes of hagstones and inspired our creative writing.
Did you know that placing a hagstone under your bed could relieve cramp or rheumatism, possibly caused by a hag or witch sitting on your stomach at night? Or that milk passed through a hagstone will not curdle?
In my novel, where I return to Dungeness, there are hagstones aplenty and I decided to feature them in my writing. I'm using a Scandinavian custom of pouring ale through the stone in order to ease birth pains, and a cord of stones which is whirled to dispel bad weather. But for my character, the most significant use will be as a pledge stone. 
I'm coming to the end of the novel now. Stranger on the Point is booked in with my proof reader for mid-September and then I'll need to be thinking carefully about the cover design. I can't believe it is almost finished; it wasn't that long ago when I was blogging about my first chapters!

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