Photo of Danish hwolkow rock string, in northern Denmark

Weekly Gem #189 Memorable Stones

Published 3/23/2019

Location: This hidden gem is located near Leck Fischersveg, in Kikhavn, Denmark (see the Clue Me! Map), but you can see similar examples, thousands of them, hanging throughout northern Denmark.

Have you ever combed a rocky beach? If so, you may have seen rocks and shells with grooves worn by the waves and sand. And every once in a while you'll find one with a hole right through.

"Hulko" and "hwolkow" are variations on an old Jutland word for a rock with a hole all the way through (hul means hole and ko means cow). Hole Cow. The name arose because children would tie a string through the hole, and pull the stone around as if they were leading a cow.

"What fun we had pulling this stone," a parent might say. Let's keep it, to remind us.

The tradition grew, so that parents and grandparents would add a stone to the string whenever something tugged their heartstrings. "Let's remember this." One stone, one memory.

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Here's the hidden gem entry from our Clue Me! map.

Clue

Holy Cow, Batman

Description

Strings of rocks

Why It's Interesting

These strings of rocks are a very charming bit of Danish culture.

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