Ghosts. A Bishop's Ghost : GHOSTS. A BISHOP'S GHOST 1 HENRY BURGWASH, who became Bishop of Lincoln on the 28th of May 1320, is chiefly memorable on account of a curious ghost story recorded of him in connection with the manor of Fingest, in Bucks. Until the year 1845, Buckinghamshire was in the diocese of Lincoln...
Goblins. The Well Of St. Ludgvan : THE WELL OF ST. LUDGVAN 1 ST. LUDGVAN, an Irish missionary, had finished his work. On the hill-top, looking over the most beautiful of bays, the church stood with all its blessings. Yet the saint, knowing human nature, determined on associating with it some object of a miraculous character, which...
Fairies. The Fairy Midwife : THE FAIRY'S MIDWIFE 1 ONCE upon a time there was, in this celebrated town, a Dame Somebody. I do not know her name. All I with truth can say is that she was old, and nothing the worse for that; for age is, or ought to be, held in honour as the source of wisdom and experience. Now this good old...
Fairies. The Tulip Bed : THE TULIP BED. 1 NEAR a pixy field in this neighbourhood there lived on a time an old woman who possessed a cottage and a very pretty garden, wherein she cultivated a most beautiful bed of tulips. The pixies, it is traditionally averred, so delighted in this spot, that they would carry their elf...
Drolls. The Three Wishes : THE THREE WISHES 1 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 m...
Drolls. The Miller At The Professor's Examination : THE MILLER AT THE PROFESSOR'S EXAMINATION 1 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...
Witchcraft. Kentsham Bell : KENTSHAM BELL 1 GREAT TOM of Kentsham was the greatest bell ever brought to England, but it never reached Kentsham safely, nor hung in any English tower. Where Kentsham is I cannot tell you, but long, long ago the good folk of the place determined to have a larger and finer bell in their steeple...
Goblins. The Hunted Hare : THE HUNTED HARE 1 "THE YOUNG LADY HAPPENED TO BE LOOKING OUT OF THE WINDOW." THERE IS a place near our town called Heathfield,--a gloomy and solitary waste. Heathfield was then just such. as evil spirits delight in; where if people really see nothing, it is quite dreary and vast enough to fancy...
Goblins. The Pason And Clerk : THE PARSON AND CLERK 1 NEAR Dawlish stand, out in the sea, two rocks, of red sandstone conglomerate, to which the above name is given. Seeing that this forms a part of Old Cornwall, I do not go beyond my limits in telling the true story of these singular rocks. The Bishop of Exeter was sick un...
Historical And Local. The Pedlar Of Swaffham : THE PEDLAR OF SWAFFHAM. 1 CONSTANT tradition says that there lived in former times in Soffham (Swaffham), "alias" Sopham, in Norfolk, a certain pedlar, who dreamed that if he went to London Bridge, and stood there, he should hear very joyfull newse, which he at first sleighted, but afterwards, his...
Nursery Tales. The Princess Of Canterbury : THE PRINCESS OF CANTERBURY. 1 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. The king issued a decree that whoever would watch one night with his daughter, and neither sleep nor slumber, should...
Fairies. Colman Grey : COLMAN GREY. 1 A FARMER, who formerly lived on an estate in our vicinity, was returning one evening from a distant part of the farm, when, in crossing a particular field, he saw, to his surprise, sitting on a stone in the middle of it, a miserable-looking little creature, human in appearance...
Ghosts. The Haunted Widower : THE HAUNTED WIDOWER 1 A LABOURING man, very shortly after his wife's death, sent to a servant girl, living at the time in a small shipping port, requesting her to come to the inn to him. The girl went, and over a "ha' pint" she agreed to accept him as her husband. All went on pleasantly enough...
Fairies. The Fisherman And The Piskies : THE FISHERMAN AND THE PISKIES 1 JOHN TAPRAIL, long since dead, moored his boat one evening beside a barge of much larger size, in which his neighbour John Rendle traded between this place and Plymouth; and as the wind, though gusty, was not sufficient to cause any apprehension, he went to bed...
Nursery Tales. Tom Tit Tot : "TOM TIT TOT." 1 "'WHERE'S THE FLAX?' SAYS HE." ONCE upon a time there were a woman, and she baked five pies. And when they come out of the oven, they was that overbaked the crust were too hard to eat. So she says to her darter: "Maw'r," 2 says she, "put you them there pies on the shelf, an' leave...
Fairies. A Myth Of Midridge : A MYTH OF MIDRIDGE "DARTED OFF AS QUICK AS LIGHTNING." Or, a Story anent a witless Wight's Adventures with the Midridge Fairies in the Bishoprick of Durham; now more than two Centuries ago. 1 TALKING about fairies the other day to a nearly octogenarian female neighbour, I asked, Had she ever seen...
Ghosts. A Clergyman's Ghost : A CLERGYMAN'S GHOST. 1 IN the south of Devon, some eighteen or twenty years ago, a reverend gentleman, of large landed property, held a small benefice in his immediate neighbourhood, for the purpose of evading residence in another quarter. He was accustomed to perform the duty every Sunday, and w...
Ghosts. The Lady With The Lantern : THE LADY WITH THE LANTERN 1 THE night was dark and the wind high. The heavy waves rolled round the point of "the Island" into St. Ives Bay, as Atlantic waves only can roll. Everything bespoke a storm of no ordinary character. There were no ships in the bay--not a fishing-boat was afloat. The few...
Fairies. Worcestershire Fairies : FAIRIES. WORCESTERSHIRE FAIRIES. 1 ACCORDING to tradition, that interesting headland called Oseberrow, or Osebury ("vulgo" Rosebury) Rock, which lies not far from Alfrick, and is situated upon the border of the river Teme, in Luisley, opposite to Knightsford Bridge, was a favourite haunt...
Ghosts. The Ghost Of Rosewarne : THE GHOST OF ROSEWARNE. 1 "EZEKIEL GROSSE, gent., attorney-at-law," bought the lands of Rosewarne from one of the De Rosewarnes, who had become involved in difficulties by endeavouring, without sufficient means, to support the dignity of his family. There is reason for believing that Ezekiel w...
Fairies. The Fairies' Caldron : THE FAIRIES' CALDRON. 1 IN the vestry of Frensham Church, in Surrey, on the north side of the chancel, is an extraordinary great kettle or caidron, which the inhabitants say, by tradition, was brought hither by the fairies, time out of mind, from Borough-hill about a mile hence. To this place, if...
Historical And Local. Lady Godiva : LADY GODIVA 1 THE Countess Godiva; who was a great lover of God's mother, longing to free the town of Coventry from the oppression of a heavy toll, often with urgent prayers besought her husband that, from regard to Jesus Christ and his mother, be would free the town from that service and from all...
Historical And Local. The Lgend Of Becket's : THE LEGEND OF BECKET'S PARENTS. 1 IN connection with the renowned Thomas Becket a curious story is related of the marriage of his parents. It is said that Gilbert, his father, had in his youth followed the Crusaders to Palestine, and while in the East had been taken prisoner by a Saracen or Mo...
Goblins. The Demon Tregeagle : THE DEMON TREGEAGLE. 1 "THE GHASTLY HEAD OF THE DOOMED SINNER GRINNED HORRIBLY DOWN." "Thrice he began to tell his doleful tale, And thrice the sighs did swallow up his voice." THOMAS SACKVILLE WHO has not heard of the wild spirit Tregeagle? He haunts equally the moor, the rocky coasts...
Fairies. The Adventure Of Cherry Of Zennor : THE ADVENTURE OF CHERRY OF ZENNOR 1 OLD Honey lived with his wife and family in a little hut of two rooms and a "talfat," 2 on the cliff side of Trereen in Zennor. The old couple had half a score of children, who were all reared in this place. They lived as they best could on the produce of a few...
Drolls. The Wise Fools Of Gotham : DROLLS. THE WISE FOOLS OF GOTHAM. 1 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...
Fairies. The Fairy Horn : THE FAIRY HORN. 1 THERE is in the county of Gloucester a forest abounding in boars, stags, and every species of game that England produces In a grovy lawn of this forest there is a little mount, rising in a point to the height of a man, on which knights and other hunters are used to ascend when...
Historical And Local. Wild Edric : WILD EDRIC. 1 SHROPSHIRE men must have been well acquainted with the fairies five hundred years ago. It was reported then that our famous champion, Wild Edric, had had an elf-maiden for his wife. One day, we are told, when he was returning from hunting in the forest of Clun, he lost his way...
Fairies. A Fairy Caught : A FAIRY CAUGHT 1 I HEARD last week of three fairies having been seen in Zennor very recently. A man who lived at the foot of Trendreen Hill, in the valley of Treridge, I think, was cutting furze on the hill. Near the middle of the day be saw one of the small people, not more than a foot long...
Title Page : ENGLISH FAIRY AND OTHER FOLK TALES Selected And Edited, With An Introduction By EDWIN SIDNEY HARTLAND [b. 1848 D. 1927] Illustrations By C E Brock London: Walter Scott, 24 Warwick Lane, Paternoster Row. [1890] Scanned And Redacted By Phillip Brown. Additional Proofing And Formatting [April 2003] By...
Nursery Tales. Jack And The Bean Stalk : JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK 1 THERE lived a poor widow, whose cottage stood in a country village, a long distance from London, for many years. The widow had only a child named Jack, whom she gratified in everything; the consequence of her partiality was, that Jack paid little attention to anything she...
Fairies. The Two Serving Damsels : THE TWO SERVING DAMSELS. 1 Two serving damsels of this place declared, as an excuse, perhaps, for spending more money than they ought upon finery, that the pixies were very kind to them, and would often drop silver for their pleasure into a bucket of fair water, which they placed...
Fairies. Legend Of The Rollright Stones : LEGEND OF THE ROLLRIGHT STONES 1 NOT far from the borders of Gloucestershire and Oxford-shire, and within the latter county, is the pretty village of Rollright, and near the village, up a hill, stands a circle of small stones, and one larger stone, such as our Celtic antiquaries say were raised by...
Goblins. Outwitting The Bogie : OUTWITTING THE BOGIE 1 AN elf once asserted a claim to a field hitherto possessed by a farmer, and after much disputing they came to an arrangement by agreeing to divide its produce between Lhem. At seed-time the farmer asks the Bogie what part of the crop he will have, "tops or bottoms. Bottoms,"...
Fairies. The Green Children : THE GREEN CHILDREN. 1 "ANOTHER wonderful thing," says Ralph of Coggeshall, "happened in Suffolk, at St. Mary's of the Wolf-pits. A boy and his sister were found by the inhabitants of thai place near the mouth of a pit which is there, who had the form of all their limbs like to those of other men...
Untitled : Title Page NURSERY TALES Jack the Giant Killer The Princess of Canterbury The Princess of Colchester Mr Fox Tom Tit Tot Jack and the Bean-stalk HISTORICAL AND LOCAL The Story of Sain Kenelm Wild Edric Lady Godiva The Legend of the Sons of the Conqueror The Lgend of Becket's Parents The Fause Fable...
Fairies. The King Of The Cats : THE KING OF THE CATS 1 MANY years ago, long before shooting in Scotland was a fashion as it is now, two young men spent the autumn in the very far north, living in a lodge far from other houses, with an old woman to cook for them. Her cat and their own dogs formed all the rest of the household. One...
Ghosts. Billy B 's Adventure : BILLY B 'S ADVENTURE 1 "You see, sir, as how I'd been a clock-dressing at Gurston (Grassington), and I'd staid rather lat, and maybe gitten a li'le sup o' spirit; but I was far from being drunk, and knowed everything that passed. It war about eleven o'clock when I left, and it war at back end o' t'...
Ghosts. Ghost Laying Stories : GHOST-LAYING STORIES. I 1 SOME years back a clergyman, on taking possession of a living on the confines of Dartmoor, found it necessary to enlarge the house, which was really little better than the peasants' cottages around it. He lengthened the one sitting-room, and made it into a tolerable...
Witchcraft. The Witch And The Toad : THE WITCH AND THE TOAD 1 AN old woman called Alsey--usually Aunt Alsey--occupied a small cottage in Anthony, one of a row which belonged to a tradesman living in Dock--as Devonport was then designated, to distinguish it from Plymouth. The old woman possessed a very violent temper, and this, more...
Witchcraft. The Bag Of Flour : THE BAG OF FLOUR. 1 "'WHAT'S THAT YOU'VE GOT ON YOUR HEAD?' SAID THE WITCH." THERE was a woman who lived near Cheadle, who went to the mill one day to get a bag of flour for baking, and as she came back she met an old witch. "Good day," said the witch. "Good day," said the woman again. "What's th...
Witchcraft. The Lord Of Pengerswick : WITCHCRAFT. THE LORD OF PENGERSWICK. 1 I. THE LORD OF PENGERSWICK AN ENCHANTER. THE Lord of Pengerswick came from some Eastern clime, bringing with him a foreign lady of great beauty. She was considered by all an "outlandish" woman; and by many declared to be a "Saracen." No one, beyond...
Witchcraft. The Hand Of Glory : THE HAND OF GLORY 1 ONE evening, between the years 1790 and 1800, a traveller, dressed in woman's clothes, arrived at the Old Spital Inn, the place where the mail coach changed horses, in High Spital, on Bowes Moor. The traveller begged to stay all night, but had to go away so early in the morning...
Historical And Local. The Fause Fable : THE FAUSE FABLE OF THE LORD LATHOM. 1 A FAYNED TALE. WHEN the war was 'twixt the Englishmen and the Irishmen the power of the English so sore assaulted the Irishmen that the king of them, being of Ireland, was constrained to take succour by flight into other parts for his safeguard; and the queen...
Nursery Tales. The Princess Of Colchester : THE PRINCESS OF COLCHESTER. 1 "WITH A SILVER COMB PERFORMED THE OFFICE." 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. He was witty, strong, and valiant, by which means he subdued his enemies abroad...
Historical And Local. Whittington And His Cat : WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 1 IN the reign of the famous King Edward III. there was a little boy called Dick Whittington, whose father and mother died when he was very young, so that he remembered nothing at all about them, and was left a ragged little fellow running about a country village. As po...
Drolls. Mr Vinegar : MR. VINEGAR 1 MR and Mrs. Vinegar lived in a vinegar bottle. Now, one day, when Mr. Vinegar was from home, Mrs. Vinegar, who was a very good housewife, was busily sweeping her house, when an unlucky thump of the broom brought the whole house cutter-clatter, cutter-clatter, about her ears...
Goblins. The Hedley Kow : THE HEDLEY KOW. 1 THE Hedley Kow was a bogie, mischievous rather than malignant, which haunted the village of Hedley, near Ebchester. His appearance was never very alarming, and he used to end his frolics with a horse-laugh at the expense of his victims. He would present himself to some old dame...
Drolls. Stupid's Mistaken Cries : STUPID'S MISTAKEN CRIES 1 THERE was once a little boy, and his mother sent him to buy a sheep's head and pluck; afraid he should forget it, the lad kept saying all the way along: "Sheep's head and pluck! Sheep's head and pluck!" Trudging along, he came to a stile; but in getting over he fell...
Goblins. Dando And His Dogs : GOBLINS. DANDO AND HIS DOGS. 1 IN the neighbourhood of the lovely village of St. Germans formerly lived a priest connected with the old priory church of this parish, whose life does not appear to have been quite consistent with his vows. He lived the life of the traditional "jolly friar." He ate...
Fairies. The Fairy Fair : THE FAIRY FAIR 1 READING once the eighteenth of Mr. Glanvil's relations, p. 203, concerning an Irishman that had like to have been carried away by spirits, and of the banquet they had spread before them in the fields, etc., it called to mind a passage I had often heard, of Fairies or spirits, so...
Fairies. The Cauld Lad Of Hilton : THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON 1 HILTON HALL, in the vale of the Wear, was in former times the resort of a Brownie or House-spirit, called The Cauld Lad. Every night the servants who slept in the great hail heard him at work in the kitchen, knocking the things about if they had been set in order...
Giants. The Origin Of The Wrekin : GIANTS. THE ORIGIN OF THE WREKIN. 1 ONCE upon a time there was a wicked old giant in Wales who, for some reason or other, had a very great spite against the Mayor of Shrewsbury and all his people, and he made up his mind to dam up the Severn, and by that means cause such a flood that the town would...
Fairies. The Piskies In The Cellar : THE PISKIES IN THE CELLAR. 1 "HE AVAILED HIMSELF OF HIS OPPORTUNITIES." ON the Thursday immediately preceding Christmas-tide (year not recorded) were assembled at "The Rising Sun" the captain and men of a Stream Work 2 in the Couse below. This Couse was a flat alluvial moor, broken by gigantic...
Drolls. The Three Sillies : THE THREE SILLIES 1 ONCE upon a time there was a farmer and his wife who had one daughter, and she was courted by a gentleman. Every evening he used to come and see her, and stop to supper at the farmhouse, and the daughter used to be sent down into the cellar to draw the beer for supper. So one...
Fairies. Edwin And Sir Topaz : EDWIN AND SIR TOPAZ. 1 IN Britain's isle and Arthur's days, When midnight faeries daunc'd the maze. Liv'd Edwin of the green; Edwin, I wis, a gentle youth, Endow'd with courage, sense, and truth, Though badly shap'd he been. His mountain back mote well be said To measure heighth against his head...
Witchcraft. Witch And Hare : WITCH AND HARE 1 AN old witch, in days of yore, lived in this neighbourhood; and whenever she wanted money she would assume the shape of a hare, and would send out her grandson to tell a certain huntsman who lived hard by that he had seen a hare sitting at such a particular spot, for which he...
Fairies. Ainsel : AINSEL 1 "A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FIGURE DESCENDED THE CHIMNEY." A WIDOW and her son, a little boy, lived together in a cottage in or near the village of Rothley, Northumberland. One winter's evening the child refused to go to bed with his mother, as he wished to sit up for a while longer, "for," said...
Ghosts. Spectre Dogs : SPECTRE-DOGS 1 "HE FELL ON HIS KNEES." NEITHER Brand in his "Popular Antiquitie"s, nor Sir Walter Scott in his "Witchcraft and Demonology", mentions spectre-dogs as a peculiar class of apparitions, yet they seem to occupy a distinct branch of English mythology. They are supposed to exist in one...
Fairies. The Fairy Banquet : THE FAIRY BANQUET. 1 IN the next chapter of his history, William of Newbridge relates as follows-- "In the province of Deiri (Yorkshire), not far from my birthplace, a wonderful thing occurred, which I have known from my boyhood. There is a town a few miles distant from the Eastern Sea, near which...
Witchcraft. Betty Chidley The Witch : BETTY CHIDLEY THE WITCH 1 A FAMILY of the name of Ambler occupied a farm a Wilderley, near Pulverbatch, and in a little cottage in a neighbouring dale lived an old woman, commonly called "Betty Chidley from the bottom of Betchcot," who was much in the habit of begging at the farmhouse...
Drolls. Lazy Jack : LAZY JACK 1 "TO HIS UTTER AMAZEMENT AROSE A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG LADY." ONCE upon a time there was a boy whose name was Jack, and he lived with his mother on a dreary common. They were very poor, and the old woman got her living by spinning, but Jack was so lazy that he would do nothing but bask...
Nursery Tales. Jack The Giant Killer : JACK THE GIANT-KILLER. 1 "HE BEHELD WITH TERROR A HUGE GIANT, DRAGGING ALONG A FAIR LADY AND A KNIGHT" IN the reign of King Arthur, there lived in the county of Cornwall, near the Land's End of England, a wealthy farmer who had one only son called Jack. He was brisk and of a ready lively wit, so...
Giants. The Blinded Giant : THE BLINDED GIANT. 1 AT Dalton, near Thirsk, in Yorkshire, is a mill. It has quite recently been rebuilt; but when I was at Dalton, six years ago, the old building stood. In front of the house was a long mound, which went by the name of "the giant's grave," and in the mill was shown a long blade...
Historical And Local. Bomere Pool : BOMERE POOL. 1 MANY years ago a village stood in the hollow which is now filled up by the mere. But the inhabitants were a wicked race, who mocked at God and His priest They turned back to the idolatrous practices of their fathers, and worshipped Thor and Woden; they scorned to bend the knee, save...
Historical And Local. The Legend Of The Sons : THE LEGEND OF THE SONS OF THE CONQUEROR. 1 ONE day, it being observed that William was absorbed in deep thought, his courtiers ventured to inquire the cause of such profound abstraction. "I am speculating," said the monarch, "on what may be the fate of my sons after my death. Your majesty," replied...
Ghosts. The Roaring Bull Of Bagbury : THE ROARING BULL O' BAGBURY 1 THERE was a very bad man lived at Bagbury Farm, and when he died it was said that he had never done but two good things in his life, and the one was to give a waistcoat to a poor old man, and the other was to give a piece of bread and cheese to a poor boy, and when...
Drolls. The History Of Tom Thumb : THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB 1 IT is said that in the days of the celebrated Prince Arthur, who was king of Britain in the year 516, there lived a great magician, called Merlin, the most learned and skilful enchanter in the world at that time. This famous magician, who could assume any form he pleased...
Ghosts. The White Lady Of Blenkinsopp : THE WHITE LADY OF BLENKINSOPP 1 LIKE almost all the old Northumbrian castles and peels, Blenkinsopp has the reputation of being haunted. A gloomy vault under the castle is said to have buried in it a large chest of gold, hidden in the troublous times: some say by a lady whose spirit cannot rest so...
Fairies. The Fairy Funeral : THE FAIRY FUNERAL 1 THE parish church of Lelant is curiously situated amidst hills of blown sand, near the entrance of the creek of Hayle. The sandy waste around the church is called the Towen; and this place was long the scene of the midnight gambols of the Small People. In the adjoining...
Fairies. The Boggart : THE BOGGART 1 IN the house of an honest farmer in Yorkshire, named George Gilbertson, a Boggart had taken up his abode. He here caused a good deal of annoyance, especially by tormenting the children in various ways. Sometimes their bread and butter would be snatched away, or their pot-ringers...
Historical And Local. The Lampton Worm : THE LAMBTON WORM. 1 "HE STRUCK A VIOLENT BLOW UPON THE MONSTER'S HEAD." THE park and manor-house of Lambton, belonging to a family of the same name, lie on the banks of the Wear, to the north of Lumley. The family is a very ancient one, much older, it is believed, than the twelfth century, to which...
Ghosts. The Haunted House : THE HAUNTED HOUSE 1 ABOUT half a mile from Tavistock there is a farm called Down House; the dwelling itself was rebuilt about eleven or twelve years ago. It was considered before an ancient place, and haunted by ghosts. Here is a story of one. The family who resided there well knew the hour...
Nursery Tales. Mr Fox : MR. FOX 1 ONCE upon a time there was a young lady called Lady Mary, who had two brothers. One summer they all three went to a country seat of theirs, which they had not before visited. Among the other gentry in the neighbourhood who came to see them was a Mr. Pox, a bachelor, with whom they...
Fairies. The Fairy Thieves : THE FAIRY THIEVES. 1 A FARMER in Hampshire was sorely distressed by the unsettling of his barn. However straightly over-night he laid his sheaves on the threshing-floor for the application of the morning's flail, when morning came all was topsy-turvy, higgledy-piggledy, though the door remained...
Historical And Local. The Story Of Sain Kenelm : HISTORICAL AND LOCAL THE STORY OF SAINT KENELM 1 WHEN little more than a mile out of Hales Owen, I struck off the high road through a green lane, flanked on both sides by extensive half-grown woods, and overhung by shaggy hedges, that were none the less picturesque from their having been long...