UK folklore, legends & myths...

[MinionZombie]

I've been doing some looking into folklore, legends and myths recently, and was wondering if any of my fellow Brits knew of any such stories from their towns/cities.

Also - can any of you fellow Brits recommend any good websites for UK-based folklore, legend and myth tales?

[Danny]

Aside from the cliche urban legends everyone has about "the grey lady" and willow-wisps and witches and junk its mostly all imported from other countries. In the long term history of england we have been invaded so much our plucky mongrel nation has gone through a lot since the time it was called Anglelande or Albion, in particular wars or invasion- such as the romans, had to a point whitewashed a lot of our folklore and culture away. Even stuff like the sword in the stone originate from france instead of england.

There is some that sticks, its just a shame most was forgotten or branded something that should be forgotten. cant name any websites but i found a partially burnt book in a charity shop from the 1800's that had some of the following in it:

THE BLACK DOG: ranging from starving strays to an avatar of satan, the black dog is something that appears on misty days and is said to be a grave fortune telling not unlike a banshee or the grim reper. Has a lot of regional names, like black shuck in norfolk and padfoot in wakefield. Associated with electrical storms, crossroads, ancient pathways and sites of murder.

DWARFS: connected to spiders, metal working and low places in the earth. short men who are described as physically deformed men with godlike crafting abilities.

ETTIN: a left over from norse folklore as a JOTUNN, a mystical giant race representing the destructive forces of nature.

WILL-O-THE-WISPS: whiffs of smoke, fog or green flame that hover over bogs, swamps and in forests- almost identical to the japanese ghost fire. Called in old times a "corpse candle" or "Fairy Fire" its said to be a goblin or pixies lantern, or aggressive spirit of a murder victim not given a burial that leads people astray into deep water or sink holes or the like.

THE WILD HUNT: an ancient piece of folklore native to almost all of northern europe. told to fortell a great tragedy such as a plague or natural disaster the wild hunt is a group of ghostly phantasms that are seen charging over fields and woodlands battling great boars and other wildlife. In some places the wild hunt is lead by Odin. in others it is just a group of wild savage looking men, hence the name.

THE GREEN MAN: something like an early sasquach the green man is a tall figure wreathed in a mane of leaves that wanders the forests and plains. not much is remembered about it since its connections to wicca and the traditional english nature worship had it outlawed. oddly though the green man can be seen as a face carving on many churches and state buildings suggesting the nature worship wasnt as stamped out as some people would think during puritanical times.

THE CUNNING FOLK: in short wizards, witches, healers, fortune tellers ect.

ELFS: anything between nyphs and pixies to nordic aesir. they are immortal creatures that seem human and have a tendency to cause trouble and this ranges between stealing shoes to taking babies and leaving a hobgoblin in its place.

Theres more, thats just all i can remember right now. cant think of any decent websites right now, best just to hope for a good hit on google

[AcesandEights]

My fav lesser known is Spring-heeled Jack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Heeled_Jack). I can't remember how I happened upon hearing about him.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Jack6.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Jack4.jpg

[Danny]

My fav lesser known is Spring-heeled Jack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Heeled_Jack). I can't remember how I happened upon hearing about him.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Jack6.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Jack4.jpg

nowadays we just call him batman like you guys do.

[AcesandEights]

Don't you also have big cat reports from time to time? I know I saw something about that.

[Danny]

Don't you also have big cat reports from time to time? I know I saw something about that.

yeah but thats not a folklore or supernatural type deal. Basically a bunch of activists whent around in the 60's breaking animals out of zoos because they thought of them as prisons. Most were caught, a few killed but a black big cat, not a puma but something like it but smaller thrived.
I saw one back when i was a kid. I was walking on a bridge over a motorway and in the plain fields that go along them i saw what i thought was a black cat. i was walking with my grandad and he was shook up by it since the cat was stalking about near the playground at the foot of the bridge. He called the police, they found nothing but a big cat was found about 20 miles down that motorway the next day. i think it was a massive eurasian lynx or something if memory serves.

i think i know of one time where one was hit on a motorway and caused a mess. but thats just one, however you always hear of a hushed up goverment service that gets roadkilled big cats off britains roads fast to keep it quiet.

apparently a second influx of them were released in the mid 70's when it became illegal to keep a dangerous animal. rich toffs bought "exotic pets" from place like africa and let em loose rather than take care of them and the abundance of ice age fauna can feed a foreighn animal just fine.

[Tricky]

You should get yourself up to York & go on the original ghost walk one night MZ, its great, it combines accurate local history with some spooky stories about goings on around the old city, all told by a very good storyteller with a theatrical voice! The story of the phantom black dog (or "Barghest") is a good one, and there are dozens of other stories surrounding the city such as phantom Roman legions, the bleeding walls of cliffords tower (where a load of jews committed suicide after being persecuted by the locals), the ghost of George Villers in the Cock & Bottle pub, Dick Turpin, the hanging tree, and many more .
York is apparently the most haunted city in the world in relation to reports of ghosts!

[MinionZombie]

You should get yourself up to York & go on the original ghost walk one night MZ, its great, it combines accurate local history with some spooky stories about goings on around the old city, all told by a very good storyteller with a theatrical voice! The story of the phantom black dog (or "Barghest") is a good one, and there are dozens of other stories surrounding the city such as phantom Roman legions, the bleeding walls of cliffords tower (where a load of jews committed suicide after being persecuted by the locals), the ghost of George Villers in the Cock & Bottle pub, Dick Turpin, the hanging tree, and many more .
York is apparently the most haunted city in the world in relation to reports of ghosts!
I went to York on a school trip back in Year 6 and we went on the ghost walk - scared the bejesus out of us. I can't remember the specific tales, but it was indeed about ghosts and phantoms and such - I remember one bit where we were in an alley way and this horrid figure burst over the wall and roared at us and we all absolutely shat ourselves. :lol:

Then as we walked on I saw through a steel gate the guy operating the puppet jumping down off the front of a Mercedes and running off ... probably the same guy who came screaming through the town in a black cowl ensemble (with Nike trainers :p) screaming like a banshee - everyone split in half leaving clueless me standing right in this dude's path - that shat me up in all. :D

Not sure if it was the ghost walk, but it was a ghost walk anyway. Back in the early-to-mid 1990s it was.

Hellsing - some spiffing examples there, nice one.

[Tricky]

Ha ha sounds like that was the gimmicky ghost walk you went on MZ, the original one is just the stories and nothing else :) Me & the girlfriend went on it the other week as she lives in York, and one of the people among the group actually started crying at one of the stories! :lol: I went on it at Halloween a few years back with an ex as well & that was really good, and the atmosphere was ramped right up seen as it was dark early too!

[Danny]

York is apparently the most haunted city in the world in relation to reports of ghosts!

just like derby is, nottingham is, edinburgh is, new york is, paris is ect. ect.:D Honestly every single time ive seen an ad for a ghost walk its advertising its city as "the most haunted place in the world!":lol:

[Tricky]

just like derby is, nottingham is, edinburgh is, new york is, paris is ect. ect.:D Honestly every single time ive seen an ad for a ghost walk its advertising its city as "the most haunted place in the world!":lol:

Thats not the ghost walk advertising though, its in relation to actual reports people have made about supposed ghosts in the city. York has a far bloodier history than most cities dating back to the Romans. You dont even have to believe in ghosts (which I dont till I see one myself) to know its got one hell of a history!