Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Category: Legends

Ancient Sites / Burial Mounds / Dragons / Legends

Bedd-yr-Afanc

Bedd-yr-Afanc means the monsters grave, the Afanc being a name commonly given to a water monster in Wales. The grave is actually the only Bronze Age Gallery Grave in Wales and dates from around 1500BC. Just two rows of parallel stones survive. According to legend the Afanc used to dwell in a pool by Brynberian Bridge, and was captured and killed then buried in this mound on the hillside.

Dragons / Folklore / Giants / King Arthur / Legends

Snowdon

Standing 3650 ft above sea level, Snowdon is the highest peak in Wales, second highest mountain in Britain and is also probably the busiest due to it popularity with hillwalkers.

Buried Treasure / Legends / Merlin

Bryn Myrddin (Merlin’s Hill)

The hill is one of many places in Britain reputed to be the prison of Merlin, where Merlin lies asleep in a cave awaiting the call to return and help his fellow countrymen. According to tradition it is possible to hear his groans from under the hill if you listen hard enough. In legend Merlin was born in Carmarthen 2 miles away from the hill.

Ancient Sites / Dragons / Legends / Merlin

Dinas Emrys

The legendary stronghold of Vortigern, and the place where the young prophet Merlin revealed the fighting dragons.  In legend there are two characters associated with the same story with slight variations. One is Vortigern, the Dark Age ruler who let the Saxons into the country, and was responsible in part for their later invasions.

Giants / Legends / UFO Sightings / UFOs

Cader Idris

This holy mountain has a rock seat called ‘The Seat of Prince Idris’. It is said that anyone who spends the night alone on the mountain will either die, become insane or become a poet.

The seat of Prince Idris is also known as the Chair of Idris, and was named after a giant who was said to view the heavens from this lofty point.

King Arthur / Legends

Carn March Arthur

A rock overlooking the Dovey Estuary, on a hill above the A493, bears a depression that is said to be the hoofprint of Arthur’s horse.

Directions: The rock lies above the A493.

Ancient Sites / King Arthur / Legends / Roman

Caerleon Amphitheatre

This is the best example of a Roman amphitheatre in Britain. Until 1926 when serious excavations were undertaken at the site, it was considered to be a circular earthwork and linked to the legend of King Arthur being known as his Round Table.

Ancient Sites / Featured Sites / Legends

Dunadd

The ancient king seat of Dunadd – capital of the kingdom of Dalraidia (Dal Riata) – rises out of the barren flatness of Crinan Moss, the raised bog floodplain of the meandering River Add. This rocky outcrop was the power base of the Scotti tribe, who invaded from Ireland around the 5th century AD.

Fairies / Featured Sites / Folklore / Legends / Scottish Fairies

Doon Hill and Robert Kirk

Doon Hill and the Old Kirk in Aberfoyle, will forever be associated with the Reverend Robert Kirk, who wrote the Secret Commonwealth in 1691. The book is an essay on the nature and social structure of supernatural beings or fairies. Robert was a seventh son, said to have been gifted with second sight.

Ancient Sites / Featured Sites / Giants / Legends / Standing Stones / Stone Circles

Machrie Moor Stone Circles

The Isle of Arran, off the West Coast of Scotland, has many stone circles and standing stones dating from the Neolithic period and the early Bronze Age. The finest collection of circles can be found on Machrie Moor, on the West of the island. The whole moorland is littered with the remains of early man, from hut circles to chambered cairns and solitary standing stones.