Hag‑stones: Protective charms of UK fishermen
Hag‑stones: Protective charms of UK fishermen
Origins and belief
Across Britain, from the Orkney and Shetland coasts to Cornwall and the banks of the Test, fishing communities prized small, naturally perforated flints known as hag‑stones or adder stones. Long embedded in British folklore, these beach‑found charms were believed to protect seafarers and anglers from supernatural dangers—kelpies and selkies in Scottish waters, whirlpools in Atlantic tides—and to ward off ordinary misfortune such as sudden storms or lost nets. The stones’ hole was often said to allow the holder to ‘see’ hidden threats or to let bad spirits pass through harmlessly.
Customs and survival
Hag‑stones were commonly hung from mast, tethered to nets, tucked into tackle boxes or worn as necklaces by freshwater anglers on chalk streams like the Test and by coastal crews in ports such as Whitby and Oban. Although eclipsed by modern safety practices, the objects persist as cultural artefacts: they appear at regional fishing festivals, in museum displays on maritime life, and among anglers who collect folk talismans alongside practical lures. The hag‑stone’s endurance illustrates how myth and material culture remained braided into British fishing identity even as rivers such as the Thames recovered and salmon and trout populations were celebrated anew.