Welp, I was hoping to get up to Hayslope before Christmas, but like last year, that’s just not going to happen. Early January. New goal.
I’ve not even had a lot of time for research lately, but there is one little thing I’ve not talked about here before, and that is the geometric shape Dakota found by the back door when we pulled the chestnuts off the walls.
Because it was etched onto the log and beneath the chestnuts, we can be certain someone associated with James Roddye – perhaps even the man himself – put it there.
It consists of several concentric circles containing a “daisy wheel” or “hexafoil,” a symbol that was quite common in the British isles during the Middle Ages – and is even attested into Roman times and the Bronze and Iron Ages
In Colonial America, the design is often seen on gravestones but also pops up, as it does here, in structures, frequently by doors or fireplaces.
Is it a design to keep out bad spirits or witches? That’s a common enough interpretation, but honestly, nobody really knows. The symbols are just there, and there’s little discussion of them in contemporary records
In some European cultures, it’s a sun symbol. In others, it represents thunder and is believed to be used to protect against lightning strikes.
If indeed it’s for protection, it falls under the category of “apotropiac” marks, coming from the Greek word αποτρέπειν and meaning “to ward off.” They show up a lot in medieval churches.
They’re more common in New England, including Pennsylvania, where the Roddyes lived after coming over from Ulster.
Whatever it is, Hayslope has one, likely etched by someone using a compass, scissors, or even a pencil and string as the house was being built. And just now it strikes me that there could be one by the front door – there are still some chestnuts over the logs on the left side of the door, the same side where this little rosette is found.