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Folktales
Meg Shelton the Fylde Witch
Meg Shelton (Mag Shelton or Margery Hilton) the Fylde Witch (Fylde Hag) who died in 1705 is said to be buried beneath a large boulder in the grounds of St Anne's Church, Woodplumpton. She was buried in a vertical position, head first with the boulder placed on top to prevent her from digging herself out of the grave, which apparently she had done twice previously. Read More »
Midwife For A Nixie
A midwife in Westerhausen was sitting one evening at home when someone knocked on her window and shouted that she should come outside. She did so, and there stood a nix, who told her to follow him. They walked to the Beck [a deep pond near Westerhausen], and the nix took a rod and struck the water with it. The water separated, and with dry feet they walked to the bottom. Read More »
Molly Leigh
In St John’s graveyard, Burslem, can be found the last resting place of Molly Leigh, a local woman accused of being a witch but dying before she could be brought to trial. Her body is the only one positioned North to South, putting it at a right angle to every other grave in the cemetery. The story of Molly Leigh is a mixture of fact and folklore that has grown over the years. Read More »
Muchelney Abbey
The abbey is associated with a folk tale that has many variations around the country, most notably at Borley, on the site of an old monastery. Read More »
Mynydd y Fedw
In 'Celtic Folklore Welsh And Manx' (1901), John Rhys recounted the following folktale originally passed down Siân Dafydd of Helfa Fawr, and Mari Domos Siôn of Tyn Gadlas, Llanberis who would probably have been born around 1770. Read More »
Nansi Llwyd and the Dog of Darkness
The following folktale entitled ‘Nansi Llwyd and the Dog of Darkness’ appeared in ‘The Welsh Fairy Book’ (1908) by W. Jenkyn Thomas. NANSI LLWYD was walking in the dusk of the evening towards Aberystruth, and she was in a very bad temper, for she was longing to get married, and according to all the omens she never would. Read More »
Okiku’s Well
The haunting of Okiku’s Well at Himeji Castle is one of Japans most famous ghost stories and known as Nanshu Sara-Yashiki. However, over time the story has changed somewhat and even the location of the Well itself has been questioned. Read More »
Old Mother Nightshade of Gedney Dyke
Until the middle of the 20th century the villages of the Lincolnshire fens were isolated, insular places. Everyone tended to know everyone else and a stranger in town would be cause for much suspicion and gossip. It was during the early 18th century, that an old fenwoman who lived in the village of Gedney Dyke, became the subject of much gossip and rumour. Read More »
Origin of the Noble Name of Trolle
Benjamin Thorpe gives this folk tale in his 'Northern Mythology: Comprising the Principal Popular Traditions and Superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and the Netherlands' (1851) 'On the wall of Voxtorp church in Småland there is a painting representing a knight named Herve Ulf, when one Christmas morning he received a drinking horn from a troll-wife with one hand, while with his Read More »
Peredur The Son Of Evrawc
Peredur The Son Of Evrawc is one the tales in the Mabinogion. This English translation by Lady Charlotte Guest was published in 1877. Read More »
The Phantom Of Croglin Grange
The phantom of Croglin Grange is one of the best known vampire stories in Britain. It is as famous in the annals of vampire lore as Whitby and its Dracula associations. The actual story bears the marks of fiction and first appeared in a book called 'In My Solitary life' by Augustus Hare. What follows is an adapted and shortened version of his story. Read More »
Port Henderson Mermaid
There is a mermaid story associated with the small fishing village of Port Henderson which was recounted by John H Dixon in Guide to Gairloch and Loch Maree (1886). According to Dixon ‘Roderick Mackenzie, the elderly and much respected boatbuilder at Port Henderson, when a young man, went one day to a rocky part of the shore there. Read More »
Pwyll, Lord of Dyfed
The story of Pwyll is found in the Mabinogion, a collection of old Welsh stories translated by Lady Charlotte Guest, and published in 1849. It describes how Pwyll the Lord of Dyfed meets the underworld king Arawn and how the two become close allies. Read More »
Radcliffe Tower
Radcliffe Tower is all that remains of a fifteenth century (1403) manor house and is a Grade I listed building. At twenty feet high, this ruined remnant of the manors demolition in the nineteenth century is linked to a tragic tale of a stepmother arranging the murder of her husband’s daughter and is reputed to be haunted by a phantom Black Dog. Read More »
Redemption From Fairy Land
NEAR the town of Aberdeen, in Scotland, lived James Campbell, who had one daughter, named Mary, who, was married to John Nelson, a young man of that neighbourhood. Read More »
Rhyd-y-Cae Bridge, Pentrefoelas
There is a legend associated with Rhyd-y-Cae Bridge where a local man was enticed into a game of cards with Satan himself. The following account of the story appeared in Elias Owen's 'Welsh folk-lore' (1887). Read More »
Richard The Tailor Of Langattock Crickhowell
The town of Crickhowell and the village of Langattock face each other over the River Usk. Wirt Sykes in his ‘British Goblins’ (1881) recounts the following story of a gentleman called Walter Jones being taught a lesson by a local inn keeper thought to dabble in witchcraft. Read More »
River Artro
Whilst reading part of Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1849), I came across a link between the River Artro and Taliesin. Read More »
River Honddu Water Horse
The River Honddu (Afon Honddu) runs through the Black Mountains in the Brecon Beacons starting at the Vale of Ewyas and said, according to folklore, to be the home of a small grey Ceffyl-dwr (a welsh water horse similar to a Kelpie). Read More »
Rowli Pugh and the Ellyll
Wirt Sykes gave the following Glamorganshire folktale in his 'British Goblins' (1881). 'On a certain farm in Glamorganshire lived Rowli Pugh, who was known far and wide for his evil luck. Read More »
Santraigh
THERE was a herd's wife in the island of Sanntraigh, and she had a kettle. A woman of peace would come every day to seek the kettle. She would not say a word when she came, but she would catch hold of the kettle. When she would catch the kettle, the woman of the house would say--
"A smith is able to make
Cold iron hot with coal.
The due of a kettle is bones, Read More »
Santraigh
THERE was a herd's wife in the island of Sanntraigh, and she had a kettle. A woman of peace would come every day to seek the kettle. She would not say a word when she came, but she would catch hold of the kettle. When she would catch the kettle, the woman of the house would say--
"A smith is able to make
Cold iron hot with coal. Read More »
Satan At Work Near Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn
Elias Owen gives the following account of a series of disturbing experiences that befell a Sabbath breaker in his 1887 book ‘ Welsh folk-lore: a collection of the folk-tales and legends of North Wales’. The account relates to the experiences of one William Davies and was given to Owen by the late Rev. J. L. Read More »
Satan Frightening A Man For Gathering Nuts On Sunday
In his 'Welsh-folklore' (1887) Elias Owen tells the following tale related to him by Rev. W. E. Jones, rector of Bylchau, near Denbigh:— Read More »
Satan Outwitted In Trefeglwys
The following account appeared in 'Y Brython', a popular Welsh-language periodical devoted to literature, antiquities and folklore published between 1858 and 1863. It was later reprinted in Elias Owen's 'Wesh Folkore' (1887). Read More »
