theoldstone:

Wistman’s
Wood is a remote high-altitude oakwoods on Dartmoor, England. While
obviously not a rock, the forest is actually situated on top of a large bank of
exposed granite boulders where pockets of acid have formed, and loamy brown
earth soils have accumulated. It is home to a surprising amount of poisonous
adders as well. (Maybe this is where all our hag stones come from?)

The Wood has been mentioned in writing for hundreds of years, but
has existed since 7000 BC and was partially cleared in 5000 BC by Mesolithic
hunter/gatherers. It’s thought the name derives from the dialect word “wisht”
meaning eerie, uncanny, or “pixie-haunted,” and some legends tell that the
Heath Hounds (aka – hellhounds) originate from these woods, and are set loose
to chase the region’s sinners or the unbaptized into hell.

This story is itself a distinctly British offshoot of the Wild
Hunt legend that pervades many Northern European cultures, and describes a
gathering of ghostly or supernatural hunters who streak the sky in dogged
pursuit of something. The identities of the hunters vary and can be elves,
fairies, or simply the dead; and the leaders of the hunt are typically Gods or
Heroic figures of some kind. Seeing the hunt is said to presage a catastrophe,
or at best the death of the person(s) who witnessed it. Witnesses may also be
dragged to the underworld or a fairy kingdom, or their souls could be dragged
from their bodies to join in the hunt.