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Folktales
Capel Garmon Church
There have been a series of churches in Capel Garmon, the latest of which is the now closed, this being St Garmon's Church that was built in 1862. In his 'Welsh folk-lore' (1887) Elias Owen recounts the following legend he heard pertaining to the church in Capel Garmon from his friend Rev. Owen Jones of Pentrevoelas. Read More »
Castell Tomen-y-Mur, (a.k.a. Mur-y-Castell and Heriri Mons)
Tomen-y-Mur (translated as ‘Mound in the Walls’) was originally an ancient Roman fort on the slope of Mynydd Maentwrog to the north east of Llyn Trawsfynyedd, with access from A470 although it is not signposted. Read More »
Chance To Be Part Of Project Albion
ASSAP (The Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena) in partnership with Mysterious Britain & Ireland is opening up its long running Project Albion to enable members of the public to directly contribute towards it. Read More »
Changelings In The Borders
Edwin Sidney Hartland gives the following account of Dumfries and Galloway Changelings in his ‘The Science of Fairy Tales’ (1891). ‘A Kirkcudbrightshire tale represents a child as once left in charge of a tailor, who "commenced a discourse" with him. "'Will, hae ye your pipes?' says the tailor. 'They're below my head,' says the tenant of the cradle. Read More »
Combe Sydenham
Combe Sydenham is associated with a legendary story concerning Sir Francis Drake, and another historical figure, George Sydenham, who has also become the subject of folklore. Read More »
Croydon Hill
Croydon Hill is the scene of a peculiar English Folktale, that may or may not have its root in real events. Whatever the truth of the tale the hill has a reputation of being haunted by unearthly howls, especially on dark and stormy nights, and here is the story to account for this unearthly manifestation: Read More »
Dando and The Wild Hunt
There are many tales to explain the origin of the spectral wild hunt, this one is from the Parish of St Germans in Cornwall. It explains how a priest with low morals became a demon huntsman.
In the medieval period the priest of the parish of St Germans was called Dando. Dando was not a figure of priestly virtue but abused his powers to enjoy earthly delights. Read More »
Danish Elf Midwife
According to ‘The Science of Fairy Tales’ (1891) by Edwin Sidney Hartland ‘A Danish tradition tells of a woman who was taken by an elf on Christmas Eve down into the earth to attend his wife. Read More »
Devil Conjuration In Merthyr Tydfil
Before Picton Street in Merthyr Tydfil was replaced by Caedraw Road, you could find the Black Lion Inn (58 Picton Street), and according to the following story which appeared in British Goblins (1881) by Wirt Sykes, two of its drunken customers attempted to summon the Devil which appeared to them in the shape of a gosling. 'These men were one night drinking together at the Black Lion Inn, when Read More »
Devil In Risca
According to British Goblins (1881) by Wirt Sykes; 'To William Jones, a sabbath-breaker, of Risca village, the devil appeared as an enormous mastiff dog, which transformed itself into a great fire and made a roaring noise like burning gorse'.
Devil Summoning Tailor of Glanbran
The 18th century Glanbran House was dismantled around 1930 and was the ancestral home of the Gwynne family, the descendants of David Goch Gwyn who settled at Glanbran in the 16th century. Wirt Sykes in his British Goblins: Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1881) gives the following story in which an unnamed member of the Gwynne family plays a prominent part. Read More »
The Devil's Stone, Shebbear
The stone that lies in the village square to the East of the church is turned every year on November the 5th by local people. The stone is made from a type of quartz not found in the area, measures about six feet by four feet and weighs about a ton. Read More »
The Dream of Maxen Wledig
The Dream of Maxen Wledig is one of the Medieval Welsh tales translated by Lady Charlotte Guest, which were published collectively as the Mabinogion in 1849. The story is rooted in a mythic interpretation of the twilight of Roman era in Britain. Read More »
Drum Hill, Little Eaton
There is apparently a legend (or maybe it’s camp fire ghost story) associated with Drum Hill, which is situated on the edge of Little Eaton, although it has undoubtedly been kept alive (and most probably elaborated) by the Scouts and Guides who regularly use the site as a camping ground. Read More »
Earth Dogs
A mythical creature that may be confined to one area of Banffshire in Scotland, according to Walter Grigor in his ‘Notes on the folklore of NE Scotland’ published in 1881, the Yird Swine were a “dreaded ..animal” that lived in graveyards and burrowed through the earth feeding on the dead bodies. Read More »
Earthman And The Midwife
In The Science of Fairy Tales (1891), Edwin Sidney Hartland gives the following account of a Swabian* story where a human midwife is called to aid an Earthman’s wife (a name given to this type of fairy) give birth. Read More »
Elidor and The Golden Ball
This story was first collected by the medieval chronicler Geraldus Cambrensis, and tells of how a young boy lived for a time in the fairy kingdon, until the day he tried to steal one of their belongings. This version is from Joseph Jacob's More Celtic Fairy Tales, 1892. Read More »
Eo Rossa
The Eo Rossa or Eó Ruis (Yew of Ross) was one of the five sacred trees of Ireland (the Bile* Trees or the Bileda) and said to grow by the River Barrow at Leighlinbridge. It grew from three natured berries from a branch born by the Irish God, Trefuilngid Tre-ochair (Triple Bearer of the Triple Key, Master of All Wisdom and consort of Macha, the triple goddess). Read More »
Eynhallow, Ancestral Home Of The Finfolk
On 14th July 1990, eighty-eight bird watchers got off a ferry organised by the Orkney Heritage Society and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds at the uninhabited Eynhallow Island. Only eighty-six returned for the journey back, which sparked a huge search and rescue operation involving the police and coastguard. Read More »
Fairies of Llyn Dwythwch
Children were often warned in the past about the dangers of fairies and John Rhys in his 'Celtic Folklore Welsh And Manx' (1901) vouched for an account from a lady who grew up in Cwm Brwynog thirty to forty years earlier. Read More »
The Fairy Boy of Leith
The story of the Fairy boy of Leith is relatively unknown today, and doesn't appear to have been recently recounted since its last appearance in the 1970s Reader's Digest compendium, Folklore, Myths a Read More »
Fairy Bride Of Beddgelert
In ‘The Science of Fairy Tales’ (1891), Edwin Sidney Hartland mentions the following story from Beddgelert where a stolen fairy lady ‘would only consent to be the servant of her ravisher if he could find out her name. Read More »
Fairy Gold Of Cwmglas Hollow
According to John Rhys in his 'Celtic Folklore Welsh And Manx' [1901] 'The following is a later tale, which Mr. Thomas Davies heard from his mother, who died in 1832:--'When she was a girl, living at Yr Hafod, Llanberis, there was a girl of her age being brought up at Cwmglas in the same parish. Read More »
Fairy Midwife Of Beddgelert
In 1891 the following folk tale appeared in 'The Science of Fairy Tales; An Enquiry Into Fairy Mythology' by Edwin Sidney Hartland. It is one of a number of stories in which human midwives are needed at fairy births. Read More »
Fairy Nurse
There lived a woman in Innish Shark -- one of the group of islands on the eastern coast -- named Biddy Mannion, as handsome and likely a fisherman's wife as you would meet in a day's walk. She was tall, and fair in the face, with skin like an egg, and hair that might vie with the gloss of the raven's wing. Read More »
