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Butter Howe

Barrow / Cairn Cemetery

Folklore

.. from a ' Glossary of Yorkshire Words and Phrases'..

Claymore Well, near Kettleness, on the coast, was a noted spot where the fairies washed their clothes and beat and bleached them, for on their washing-nights the strokes of their bittles or battledores were heard as far as Runswick.
From Notes and Queries, Jan 4th, 1896. Butter Howe must be in the vicinity of this well - a house called Claymore is less than half a mile away. You'd imagine the Howe was where the fairies lived. A similarly short distance away was where a helpful hob lived. His cliff caves are marked on the OS map. The 'Northern Echo' describes his folklore:

"When a child was suffering from whooping cough, the mother would carry the patient down to the beach and walk along to the mouth of the hob's cave. There she would halt and call out these words: 'Hob Hole Hob? My bairn's gitten t'kink cough. Tak it off, tak it off.'"
http://archive.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/2001/10/26/155896.html

According to N&Q for November 6th 1852, "The fishermen of the neighbourhood still regard the place with superstitious dread, and are unwilling to pass it by night."
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
26th August 2006ce
Edited 26th August 2006ce

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