Cernunno's Legacy...'Swearing on the Horns':
(Pictured:Swearing on the Horns, Highgate, 1906.)
Described by Bryon in Childe Herald, there were once about 20 public houses in Highgate, where strangers were required to take a pair of antlers horns in their hands, and swear a jocular oath:
. . . Both men and maids are sworn,
And consecrate the oath,
With dance and draught till morn . . .
The custom of Swearing on the Horns in Highgate died out at the end of the 19th century, but has been revived as an occasional ceremony in certain pubs. (The London Encyclopedia, pp379-80, Papermac, London,1983).
***Note:The following text has been redactled from an article entitled, 'Evidence of worship of the Horned God in early Celtic London'...to view full article, see attached link in comments.***
Historical background
The Pagan fertility god Herne the Hunter/the Green Man was one of the main gods of the ancient Britons from Paleolithic times. Chesca Potter, writing in her pamphlet Mysterious Kings Cross (Mandrake, Oxford, 1990), says that the Stag-headed God represents:
The male fertilic power of nature, physically and spiritually. In prehistoric times, the Shaman would have dressed in deerskins and a mask with stag-horns becoming as the God . . .
There is enough evidence to say that the Green Man/Herne the Hunter is well connected with certain areas of London: We have the Horn Fair - still held in Charlton village every year; the connection in the early history of Greenwich with fertility rites, stag worship and the Green Man; the possibility that Herne Hill is named after him, indeed, did the hill have a greater significance to the Stag-worshipping Celts of early London ? There is also the Pagan temple dedicated to the Goddess Diana which once stood on the site of St. Paul's Cathedral, reputedly built by the legendary King Brutus who Diana appeared to in a vision in Malta and urged him to settle in "the great white island" - Albion some 3,000 years ago. He landed at Totnes in Devon and marched on London where he erected the temple of Diana - on which he recorded details of his vision of the Goddess of the Stag and Archery. This Pagan temple survived until the arrival of the Saxon's in the 7th century when St. Pauls Catherdral was first built.
Thus, it could be argued that the worship of the Horned God and the Stag Goddess arrived with King Brutus and stayed an integral part of the religious life of Celtic Londoners right up the first suppression of Paganism in London in the 7th century A.D. However, the Pagan rites of Celt's of London have survived well into recent times with the May Day festivals, the May Pole celebrations, and other festivities connected with the Green Man/Herne the Hunter. In medieval times, for example there was at least four major May Day festivals - often lasting well over a week: in May Fair (Mayfair), the Southwark Fair, the Greenwich Fair, and the Horn Fair from Bermondsey to Charlton.
Finally, there is also a belief that the Isle of Dogs is named after Herne's 50 dogs, identified by their red tipped ears, and known as the Hounds of Hell. It is highly possible that the worship of the Green Man in Celtic times and beyond, was centered around Greenwich and the Isle of Dogs, although today there is scant evidence of this, except in the place names.
The ancient legends connect the Robin Hood/Green Man stories with Wimbledon Common and Windsor Castle, and possibly other areas of London through pub names: l notice there's a Herne's Tavern on Peckham Rye Common, one called The Horns in St. Pancras, the Horn Tavern in EC4, the Green Man in Bellingham etc.
The Horned God also has Germanic origins which were brought over by Pagan tribes such as the Angles and the Saxons to Britain from the 4th century onwards. Perhaps one of the reasons why stag workship has survived so long in most parts of Britains is that the Saxon tribes were themselves Pagans and no doubt contributed substantially to the survival of both the folkore and stag worship up until present times. One of our readers, Penda, from Germany, e-mailed me (March 2001) with the following information on the origins of stag worship in Britain (read the full text of his letter here):
The stag played an extremely important role in the Germanic witchcraft traditions. The god Yngvi Freyr's sacred animal was the stag, and he used a stag horn to slay the giant Beli. One of the tribes that invaded Briton were called the Ingavones, whom were a tribe that was dedicated to Yngvi Freyr. Rituals surrounding Yngvi Freyr were very "shamanic" oriented. They did shaking/swaying dances with small bells sewn into their tunics. Other Inveonic rituals involved wildly dancing around boar heads, as well as dressing up in boar skins and wearing stag horns.
In fact a holy ring-stead involves a circle of stones (to represent Freya's necklace, the Brosingomene) with a stang (a pole with stag horns on top). These two important peices represent Vanic (gods of fauna and flora of sea and land) might in its totality. Freya translates to "Lady", which in turn means bread (power) maker, while Frey translates to "Lord" which means bread (power) giver. The Brosingomene is like a womb, both a protector and a container for power (magen), while the stang (harts horn) is like a penis, projective, pentetrative, and power weilding(through "ejaculation" or release of power).
Evidence of the Pagan Saxons in London can be found in the fact that the Germanic Pagan God Tiw was the God of Law - who gave his name to Tues-day. One long forgotten river in London was named after him: the River Tyburn, which now flows mainly underground from it's source in north London. Oxford Street was once, for example, called Tyburn Road until 1713 when Edward Harley, the 2nd Earl of Oxford bought up the area and had the street named after him. The place commonly known as Tyburn is where Marble Arch is today, and was London's main execution site from 1388 until 1783. As condemned prisoners had the right to make a final speech this is the origin of Speakers Corner - where anyone can exercise the right of free speech free from the threat of libel laws (like in Parliament itself). Furthermore, it is an established fact that the River Tyburn (which flows near Marble Arch), splits right where Buckingham Palace is today and forms an island called Thorney Island, on which law making and such like was traditionally carried out according to pre-Roman Celtic tradition. There, was apparently, once a Druid tree college on the site. The fact that it is the site of the British Parliament and the seat of government is another connection with Pagan times long since forgotten in London's official history.
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