Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Mysterious Britain & Ireland

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English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

The Three Wishes

A WOODMAN went to the forest to fell some timber. Just as be was applying the axe to the trunk of a huge old oak out jumped a fairy, who beseeched him with the most supplicating gestures to spare the tree. Moved more by fright and astonishment than anything else, the man consented, and as a reward for his forbearance was promised the fulfilment of his three next wishes.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

The Wise Fools of Gotham

CUCKOO BUSH, near Gotham, tradition says, was planted or set to commemorate a trick which the inhabitants of Gotham put upon King John. The tale is told thus King John, passing through this place towards Nottingham, intending to go over the meadows, was prevented by the villagers, they apprehending that the ground over which a king passed was for ever after to become a public road.

English Fairies / English Folktales / Fairies / Folklore / Folktales

The Fairy Funeral

The following story entitled ‘The Fairy Funeral’ was published in ‘English Fairy and Other Folk Tales’ (1890) by Edwin Sidney Hartland. ‘THE parish church of Lelant is curiously situated amidst hills of blown sand, near the entrance of the creek of Hayle.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

Whittington Stone

At the foot of Highgate Hill can be found the Whittington Stone, so named after Dick Whittington, who, according to tradition sat here and heard the bells of Bow Church which he thought were saying "Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London." The following account of the story of Dick Whittington and his cat was published in ‘English Fairy and Other Folk Tales’ (1890) by

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

The Princess of Colchester

The following tale entitled ‘The Princess of Colchester’ was published in ‘English Fairy and Other Folk Tales’ (1890) by Edwin Sidney Hartland. ‘LONG before Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, there reigned in the eastern part of England a king who kept his Court at Colchester.

English Folktales / Folklore / Folktales

The Princess of Canterbury

The following tale entitled ‘The Princess of Canterbury’ was published in ‘English Fairy and Other Folk Tales’ (1890) by Edwin Sidney Hartland. ‘IN days of yore, when this country was governed by many kings, among the rest the King of Canterbury had an only daughter, wise, fair, and beautiful.

Ancient Sites / Chalk Hill Figures

Hackpen White Horse

The White Horse carved into Hackpen Hill dates from 1838 and was created to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria. The horse measures 90ft by 90ft.

Ancient Sites

Barbury Castle

Barbury Castle is an Iron Age hill fort and can be found on Barbury Hill. It was around here in 556AD that the Battle of Beran Byrig or Beranburh was fought and the Britons were defeated by the West Saxons.

The Ridgeway National Trail footpath passes through Barbury Castle.