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Folktales
The Devil Appearing To A Dissenting Minister At Denbigh
“The Rev. Mr. Thomas Baddy, who lived in Denbigh Town, and was a Dissenting Minister in that place, went into his study one night, and while he was reading or writing, he heard some one behind him laughing and grinning at him, which made him stop a little—as well indeed it might. Read More »
The Devil’s Tree, Llanrhos
The following account entitled 'The Devil’s Tree by Eglwys Rhos' appeared in Elias Owen's 'Welsh Folk-lore' (1887). 'At the corner of the first turning after passing the village of Llanrhos*, on the left hand side, is a withered oak tree, called by the natives of those parts the Devil’s Tree, and it was thought to be haunted, and therefore the young and timid were afraid to pass it Read More »
The Dream of Rhonabwy
Lady Charlotte Guest published the first English translation of The Mabinogion and below is how the tale of The Dream of Rhonabwy appeaed in it [1877]. Read More »
The Dwarfs In Schalk Mountain And Wohlden Mountain
Schalk Mountain (Schalksberg), between Ettenbüttel and Wilsche, near Gilde on the Aller River, is only a little mole hill today, but formerly it was a high and narrow mountain in which the dwarf people made their home. Read More »
The Fairies' Hill
According to Lord Archibald Campbell in his 'Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition, Argyllshire Series, vol. 1 (1889); There is a green hill above Kintraw, known as the Fairies' Hill, of which the following story is told. Read More »
The Fairy And The Bible-Reader
ON a still Sabbath evening in summer, an old man was seated, reading his Bible in the open air, at a quiet spot upon the Ross-shire coast. A beautiful little lady, clad in green, drew near, and addressing him in a silvery voice, sought to know if for such as she Holy Scripture held out any hope of salvation. Read More »
The Fairy Cup Of Kirk Malew
I have heard many Manxmen protest they have been carried insensibly great distances from home, and without knowing how they came there, found themselves on the top of a mountain. Read More »
The Fairy Nurse
There was once a little farmer and his wife living near Coolgarrow. They had three children, and my story happened while the youngest was on the breast. Read More »
The Fisherman And The Merman
OF mermen and merwomen many strange stories are told in the Shetland Isles. Beneath the depths of the ocean, according to these stories, an atmosphere exists adapted to the respiratory organs of certain beings, resembling in form the human race, possessed of surpassing beauty, of limited supernatural powers, and liable to the incident of death. Read More »
The Gloaming Bucht
"SPEAKIN' o' fairies," quoth Robbie Oliver (an old shepherd, who lived at Southdean in Jedwater, and died about 1830), "I can tell ye about the vera last fairy that was seen hereaway. When my faither, Peter Oliver, was a young man, he lived at Hyndlee, an' herdit the Brocklaw. Read More »
The Godmother
Two girls, all dressed up, were walking along playfully and mischievously one evening when suddenly a gigantic fat toad waddled across their path. The girls joked about the large animal: One of them said that if it ever had a baby, she would be its godmother. The other one quickly added that she would cook for the occasion. Read More »
The Great Giant of Henllys
The original tale first appeared in The Athenaeum, published in 1847, and tells how a tyrannous figure became even more fearsome as a ghost after he had died. Three brave priests finally exorcise the ghost with a mix of magic and prayer. Read More »
The Gwiber of Penmachno
The word "gwiber" in Welsh means viper or adder but many centuries ago the word actually meant "flying snake" . This is the story of how Wibernant (meaning "valley of the gwiber) which is near Penmachno got its name. Read More »
The Isle Of Pabaidh
THERE came a woman of peace (a fairy) the way of the house of a man in the island of Pabaidh, and she had the hunger of motherhood on her. He gave her food, and that went well with her. She stayed that night. Read More »
The Kelpie of Loch Garve
The story of the Kelpie of Loch Garve (so it's technically an Each Uisge, but we'll keep it as Kelpie for this story) tells of a Kelpie that lived at the depths of the loch with his wife. Now the Ke Read More »
The Kelpy of Morphie
In 'Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs' (1893), James Mackinlay tells the following tale of a captured water horse. 'A pool in the North Esk, in Forfarshire, called the Ponage or Pontage Pool, was at one time the home of a water-horse. This creature was captured by means of a magical bridle, and kept in captivity for some time. Read More »
The Lady Of The Fountain
The Lady Of The Fountain is one the tales in the Mabinogion. This English translation by Lady Charlotte Guest was published in 1877. Read More »
The Laird of Balmachie's Wife
This tale involves a fairy abduction and replacement by a changeling, in this case a Laird's wife, a rather larger burden than the usual child. The original story can be found in Folklore and Legends of Scotland by W.W Gribbins. Read More »
The Lapland Clergyman's Wife who was Midwife to a Troll
According to ‘The Science of Fairy Tales’ (1891) by Edwin Sidney Hartland ‘A clergyman's wife in Swedish Lappmark, the cleverest midwife in all Sweden, was summoned one fine summer's evening to attend a mysterious being of Troll race and great might, called Vitra. At this unusual call she took counsel with her husband, who, however, deemed it best for her to go. Read More »
The Llandegla Spirit
The parish church of Llandegla is dedicated to St Tecla of Iconium (modern day Konya in Turkey) and though the original building dated from 1273, it was rebuilt in 1866 by Lady Margaret Willoughby de Broke. There is a folk-tale and tradition concerning the haunting and subsequent exorcism of the rectory. Read More »
The Lost Child
Robert Hunt in his 'Popular Romances of the West of England; or, The Drolls, Traditions, and Superstitions of Old Cornwall' (1865) gives an account of the lost child of Trefonick which was given to him thirty years earlier by an old woman of the parish. Read More »
The Lost Land of Wales
This tale is one of two stories of a similar theme attached to Cardigan Bay in Gwynedd. This story is the later one of the two and explains how a realm was lost to the sea through debauchery and drunkenness. There are traces of walls and roadways under the sea at Cardigan Bay, they can be seen at low tide and may have given rise to the legend of the 'Lost Lowland Hundred'. Read More »
The Mermaid Wife
A STORY is told of an inhabitant of Unst, who, in walking on the sandy margin of a voe, saw a number of mermen and mermaids dancing by moonlight, and several seal-skins strewed beside them on the ground. At his approach they immediately fled to secure their garbs, and, taking upon themselves the form of seals, plunged immediately into the sea. Read More »
The Midwife Of Listowel
"Why do you call the fairies 'good people?'" asked I.
"I don't call them the good people myself," answered Duvane, "but that is what the man called them who told me the story. Some call them the good people to avoid vexing them. I think they are called the good people mostly by pious men and women, who say that they are some of the fallen angels." Read More »
The Mumby Boggart And The Crafty Farmer
A farmer bought a new field, which was inhabited by a squat, hairy boggart, a kind of troll. The boggart refused to allow the farmer to plant anything in the field, claiming it was his and the farmer had no right to it. The farmer, in turn, pointed out that he'd paid good money for the land and by right he ought to be able to use it. Read More »
