Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Devil / Folklore / Legends / Wells

Mother Ludlam’s Cave

Mother Ludham’s Cave, was so named after the White Witch that was said to live in it. This small sandstone cave can be found in the Wey Valley and is also associated with the ruined Cistercian Waverley Abbey, or more correctly the spring inside it is associated with the monks that lived there. This spring was known as Ludwell and later St Mary’s Well.

Devil / Folklore / Legends

Devil’s Punch Bowl, Hindhead

The Devil’s Punch Bowl at Hindhead is a large natural hollow with several pieces of folk lore attached to Old Nick himself.

English Fairies / English Folktales / Fairies / Folklore / Folktales

Osebury Rock

Osebury Rock (or Rosebury Rock) is a remarkable cliff with dense woodland on the River Teme which, according to Edwin Hartland in his ‘English Fairy and Other Folk Tales’ (1890), has an association with fairies.

English Fairies / English Folktales / Fairies / Folklore / Folktales

A Myth of Middridge

The following story entitled ‘A Myth of Midridge’ was published in ‘English Fairy and Other Folk Tales’ (1890) by Edwin Sidney Hartland. ‘TALKING about fairies the other day to a nearly octogenarian female neighbour, I asked, Had she ever seen one in her youthful days?

Folklore

Yan Di – The First Chinese Emperor

The legendary Yan Di or "Flame Emperor" is said to have ruled a stone age tribe around the area of Yang Tou Shan (Sheep’s Head Mountain) just north of Baoji in Shaanxi province, China. There are few facts known about Yan Di as historical records do not exist from the time he supposedly lived.

Devil / Legends

Devil’s Jumps

Three small hills near Churt have been known as the Devils Jumps (or the Devils Three Jumps) since at least 1765. The highest of the three hills is known as Stony Jump. There are a few folk tales attached to these hills which explains their name.

Folklore

Tom Dula (Dooley)

"Hang down your head Tom Dooley,
Hang down your head and cry,
Hang down your head Tom Dooley,
Poor boy, you’re bound to die!"

English Fairies / Fairies / Folklore

Myers Flat

An article in the North Echo entitled ‘How railway builders took on the fairies’ was published on Monday 16 June 2008. It concerns the building of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1823 and refers to the local belief that fairies hindered progress at Myers Flat.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

The Miller at the Professor’s Examination

THERE once came to England a famous foreign professor, and before he came he gave notice that he would examine the students of all the colleges in England. After a time he had visited all but Cambridge, and he was on his road thither to examine publicly the whole university.