Latest Folklore

And from thence they both went to Gelli Wic, in Cornwall, and took the leash made of Dillus Varvawc’s beard with
them, and they gave it into Arthur’s hand.

-Kilhwch and Olwen in Guest.

Alleged to be one of the resting places of King Arthur. They take the Mabiginon seriously around here ...

An Old Cornish rhyme says..

One day the Devil having nothing to do,
Built a great hedge from Lerryn to Looe

The stone in the Churchyard is said to have been split open by St Leven.

According to tradition if the gap becomes wide enough for a horse and cart to pass through it, it will signal the end of the world.

According to folklore, a giant called John of Gaunt lived on this ancient site. The giant had a rivalry with another local giant called Bolster.

The two would often engage in battle and throw boulders at each other. The many large erratics found in this area are supposed to be remnants of their battles.

Said to be the burial place of the Cornish saint, King Gerennius. The burial mound is said to house a golden boat with silver oars, on which his body was brought across Gerrans Bay.

A popular story connects St. Agnes with the giant Bolster. This relates how, in order to rid herself of his persistent wooing and the countryside of his tyranny, she (St. Agnes)challenged him to fill a small hole in the rocks at Chapel Porth with his blood as a token of his love. To this the giant agreed, not knowing that the hole emptied into the sea, with the natural consequence that he bled to death!

The hole at Chapel Porth still retains the evidence of the truth of this tradition in the red stain which marks the track down which flowed the giant’s blood!

King Gerren of Dumnonia was killed in the fighting at Battle of Catterick in 598

It is said that he is buried at Dingerein.

before 1878 miners returning from work reported lights “burning and fairies dancing on and around it”

The Wallace Stone is named after the Scottish commoner and freedom fighter Mel Gib.....eh sorry William Wallace. (If you want a laugh, check out the new statue of ‘Wallace’ in the car park of the Wallace Monument visitor centre a few miles from Sheriffmuir. I know somebody who chiselled it’s face off in protest, but it has since been repaired.)
Wallace is said to have used the stone as a gathering point for his troops (who were travelling from different parts of the Highlands) before the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.
This stone was also used as a gathering point for the Jacobite army, who had travelled from the Highlands to meet the Hanoverian troops at the Battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715.
The Battle was one of the few times in history were there was no winner – the Battle just fizzled out. Maybe it was because it was a cold 13th of November on this windy moorland.

In 1885 it was recorded in living memory that this stone was used for curing infirm children by passing them through the hole.

The farmer who in 1814, removed the Stone of Odin because he was fed up of the many visitors to his land, clearly underestimated the attachment that locals had to this stone. The farmer (who also commited the crime of not being a native Orcadian) was almost killed after 2 attempted arson attacks on his property.
According to Reverend R. Henry (c.1784), every New Years Day local young folk gathered at the Kirk of Stenness with enough provisions for 4 or 5 days. Couples who wished to be married would leave the group alone and go to the Temple of the Moon (Stones of Stenness) where the woman would pray to Woden. Then they went to the Temple of the Sun (Ring of Brodgar), where the man would pray before the woman, when finally they went to the Stone of Odin where they clasped their right hands through the hole in the stone and exchanged vows.
Leslie Grinsell wrote in 1976 (Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain) that babies who were passed through the hole in the Stone of Odin would live long and healthily. Grinsell also wrote that it was customary to leave offerings at the Stone of Odin and that sick people would go round the Stones of Stenness 3 times to become cured.

J. McDiarmid wrote in 1910 in his ‘Folklore of Breadalbane’ of a man from the nearby village of Killin who on passing by this stone circle heard haunting ‘fairy’ music. He then entered into the circle. When he left he was ‘presented’ with a strong, fast, white horse.

C.Leitch wrote in ‘Ardrishaig and it’s Vicinity’ (Govan, 1904), ‘A perforated outlier [of the Ballymeanoch monument] is said to have been used for sealing bargains and betrothals’.
Is this the little cairn site?

The country around Cairnpapple isn’t only a UFO hot-spot, there has also been sightings of a strange being called ‘The Silver Runner’. Here’s the story taken from ‘Haunted Scotland’ by Norman Adams (1998, 5);

‘Cairnpapple is steeped in ancient mystery and magic. Its bleak, rounded summit, three miles north of the Lothian town of Bathgate, was sacred to early man, and on clear day you can see why. The view from the hilltop is spectacular, extending from Goatfell on Arran in the west to the Firth of Forth in the east. On the summit Stone Age people erected a ring of upright stones, later used by Bronze and Iron Age man to construct tombs for the cremated bodies and funeral pottery. No wonder it has been described as one of Scotlands most important prehistoric sites. But the Bathgate Hills conceal a baffling modern mystery- ‘The Strange Case of the Silver Man’. This being, entity or elemental, call it what you will, was encountered in the summer of 1988 on a forest road to the south-east of Cairnpapple by a family out for a let-night drive. At the wheel of the Fiesta was David Colman, father of three, and at the time a 33 year-old mature student. His front seat passenger was his wife Kathleen, while their two sons and a daughter, aged between six and 14, were in the back. The strange encounter took place on a starry night on a road running parallel to Ravencraig Wood, popularly known as the Knock Forest, less than a mile from their home in Bathgate. The jaunt was unplanned, the youngsters having persuaded their father to take them for a ride in the new car. As he headed for a small but steep incline topped with a dangerous right-hand bend, Davids attention was instantly drawn to his right side. In a split second he saw a glowing figure, in classical running posture, moving extremely fast, possibly between 50 and 70 miles an hour! The figure was bulky and well over six feet tall. ‘As it ran in the opposite direction from the car it had its head turned back towards us and appeared to be scowling’ David told me. Silence gripped the occupants of the car. Then Kathleen asked her husband: ‘You did see that, didn’t you?’ David replied: ‘See what?’ The children shouted in unison: ‘You saw the silver man, daddy!’ Although the youngsters had unwittingly christened the bizarre creature, David said: ‘The figure was white, not silver, but I suppose it appeared that way to the children. When I questioned them more closely they said the figure was crouched at the side of the road. As we approached, it took off through the forest.’ Kathleen supported Davids account. ‘There was complete silence until I asked David if he had seen the figure,’ she said. ‘The expression on his face told it all.’ Kathleen, who saw the figure disappear into the forest, went on: ‘It was a human shape, and I thought it was a male. I had a feeling it was not happy. It was not silver, more like a negative image. I remember the children were very excited.‘

So- when visiting Cairnpapple in the evening, be sure not only to keep an eye on the skies above, but also watch out for beings on the roads.

At the foot of the incredible Mam Tor is Odin Mine, marked by a NT sign but off limits on my last visit due to F&M (April 2001).

It struck me as quite significant at the time because my visit was just after finding out that Odin was unique amongst norse gods because he got his power from the Mother Earth. Mam Tor, and at her foot, Odin Mine. Hmmm.

And after reading up on the Odin Stone on Orkney (and indeed Yggdrasilbury), it now makes even more sense; Mam Tor and Odin Mine couldn’t have been named such by the (later) invading Vikings, for the Vikings had abandoned the ‘Mother Earth’ completely. There’s a good chance, therefore, that their relationship could be based in antiquity.

Could this be another example of the ‘norse’ myths being eternally played out in the British Landscape?

Cairnpapple is regularly used as a vantage point for skywatchers and is regarded as a UFO hotspot.

It is believed by some historians that the Airthrey stone played a part in the birth of the Scottish nation around 860AD. Kenneth MacAlpin is believed to have gathered his west coast, celtic army at the stone, before defeating a north eastern Pictish army. This was the most important in a series of battles, in a power struggle which ended when MacAlpin was crowned the first king of the new, united Scotland.
Other stones in the area were reported to be used as standard, or gathering points before important battles at different times. (The Randolphfield stones during the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 and the Sherriffmuir stone row, before Wallace’s Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 and the Jacobite Battle of Sherriffmuir in 1715).

This is the most enchanted place.

The yew tree in the village kirkyard is at least five thousand years old. It is claimed that this magic and ancient thing is the oldest living thing on our planet outside of North America.

Pontious Pilate was reported to have been born and brought up here. the legend says that Pilate was the child of a local woman, and a Roman dignitary. The yew tree would have been at least 3000 years old when Pilate was born. Did he climb it as a boy?

By the time the influence of Jesus’ crucifixion and the subsequent religion of Christianity returned to this village, and the sacred site of the tree was claimed by the Roman church, the yew was then about 4000 years old.

The location of this place adds to the magic. The village sits at the bottom of the longest glaciated U-shaped river valley in these isles, Glen Lyon, which has numberous stones and cup and ring marked rocks. I’ve only seen this Glen on a map, and I intend to visit it. The mountainscape is also stunning.

These stones are supposed to have played a strategic role on the first day of the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. A Scottish nobleman, Lord Randolph gathered a company of spearmen at the stones, in order to block a move by English cavalry who were trying to reach Stirling Castle from the South.
Other standing stones in the area have been reported to have been used as landmarks before battles. A stone row 5 miles away in Sheriffmuir was used as a gathering point before Wallace’s Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 and the Jacobite Battle of Sherriffmuir in 1715. A 15ft standing stone in the grounds of Stirling University is claimed to have been used by the western Gaelic army of Scotland’s first king, Kenneth Macalpin, before the battle with the North Eastern Picts which resulted in the formation of Scotland.

According to “Myths & Legends of Cornwall” (C.Weatherhill & P.Devereux), the mines on Rosewall Hill were haunted by Knockers (weird sprite-like things). A miner called Trenwith formed a partnership with the Knockers, and benefitted from their expertise at mining ore. Trenwith would leave 1/10th of properly dressed ore as payment to the Knockers. This relationship continued after Trenwith’s death via his son, who one day sought to cheat the Knockers. The lode then failed, he became a drunk who lost all his father’s money and ended up a beggar.

The Story Of Tregeagle
Tregeagle, the Cornish Bluebeard, was popularly supposed to have sold his soul to the devil that his wishes might be granted for a certain number of years. He is supposed to have married and murdered several heiresses for their money. One day, just before his death, Tregeagle was present when one man lent another a large sum of money without receipt or security on the behalf of Tregeagle. Soon after Tregeagle’s death the borrower denied he ever had the money. He was taken to court and there said “If Tregeagle ever saw it I wish to God that Tregeagle may come into court and declare it.” As soon as the words were spoken Tregeagle appeared and gave witness for the plaintiff against the man saying that he could not speak falsely “but he who had found it so easy to raise him would find it difficult to lay him.” The money was paid, but Tregeagle’s spirit followed the man day and night. Finally the Parson was able to exorcise the spirit from the man with great difficulty. There are variations on this story, including that Tregeagle himself received the money but failed to enter it in his books. His ghost was doomed to do many impossible things, such as to empty Dosmery Pool, near Bodmin Moor, with a shell with a hole in the bottom. This pool had the reputation of being bottomless.

Strange tales are told of Tregeagle appearance to people and his dismal howls at not being able to fulfill his tasks. Mothers say in Cornwall of their crying children “He is wailing louder than Tregeagle!” Other stories have ghosts on the shore of this lonely pool trying to bind sand into bundles with bands of sand. Tregeagle had to remove sand from one cove to another only to have the sea return it. On one of these sand hauling expeditions he is supposed to have dropped a bag of sand at the mouth of Loe-pool, near Helston. Now, in the wet seasons, the waters of this pool rise and obstruct the workings of the mills on its banks and heavy seas silt up the mouth of the pool. At these times the mayor of Helston by ancient custom presents two leather purses with three halfpence each as his dues to the Lord of Penrose who owns the pool and asks for permission to cut a path through the sand to the sea. Another task for Tregeagle is to make and carry away a bundle of sand tied with a rope of sand near a cove at Land’s End. But the spirit never rests with these never-ending tasks and the devil haunts the spirit until it hides for refuge in a hermit’s ruined chapel on St. Roche’s rocks. Near Land’s End, when the sea roars before a storm, people say “Tregeagle is calling!” and his voice can be heard around Loe-pool.

Popular Romances of the West of England
by Robert Hunt

Hunt, Robert, editor (1807-1887). Popular Romances of the West of England: Or the Drolls, Traditions, and Superstitions of Old Cornwall. 2nd Ed. 1871. London: John Camden Hotten, 1865.

I have only read about this stone in local history books. I know the sight is near Devil’s Quoit very very little is known about locally.

There is a ref to the site at users.globalnet.co.uk/~tomgreen/folkgazt.htm

The stone is now lost but local legend says that this stone was once close the the Devil’s Quoit on the edge of Goss moor. The large stone was said to be deeply imprinted with the four horseshoes but the stone was overturned by tresure seekers.
The stone hasn’t been seen in living memory.

There is local legend that King Arthur lived at Castle-an-Dinas and nearby Goss moor was known as King Arthurs hunting ground.

Until the 15th century, a custom persisted where a stag was brought into the Cathedral, and ritually slaughtered.

The Temple was allegedly built by Brutus. Diana (the Hunter) appeared to him in Malta about 1000BC, speaking of the “Great White Island”. Landing in Totnes, Devon, he came to London and built a temple to Diana/Herne. This lasted until about 700CE, when the first St Pauls was built.

shamesless grabbed from:
flamemag.dircon.co.uk/herne_the_hunter.htm