Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Country and County: Gwynedd

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.

Fairies / Folklore / Welsh Fairies

Yr Ogaf Ddu (The Black Cave), Near Criccieth

This cave is associated with a legend common in Britain, that of pipers disappearing into the fairy realm.

Four pipers went into this cave to commune with the fairies, but they never returned. Their piping can still be heard when the air is quiet.

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.

UFO Sightings / UFOs

Holyhead UFO

In 1743 a farmer near Holyhead, Anglesey is alleged to have witnessed a ‘boat’ sailing in the clouds at about 1500 feet. The story appeared in the ‘Flying Saucer Review’ in 1971.

UFO Sightings / UFOs

Llanerchymedd UFO (1978)

On 1st September 1978 in Llanerchymedd, Anglesey, some young boys who were playing football saw what they thought was a helicopter land in a field close to where they were playing. They went over out of curiosity and found that it was a white object like a smooth nosed rocket. They went to fetch some adults who also witnessed two 6-foot humanoids in one-piece suits near to the object.