 Previous 20 | Showing 41-57 of 57 folklore posts. Most recent first
People have said that they have heard the fairies patting butter on the hill as they passed at night. Once a man heard them say "mend that peel!" (a peel was a long-handled shovel used to remove bread from the oven.) Passing by the next day, he found the broken shovel and took it home to be mended. The following day a piece of bread and butter was lying on a stone where he had found the peel. The man was afraid to eat the bread or give it to his horses, fearing the consequences. Unfortunately, unaware that he had offended the fairies, his horses dropped dead before they reached the top of the hill.
Myth and Magic of Northumbria
Coquet Editions
1992
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Elf-stones
" When I was a boy, I was an ardent archaeologist. I remember on one occasion having been told that chipped flints were to be found in a field near Blois Hall, in the North Riding.
Hurrying thither the first whole holiday, I was fortunate enough on that occasion to find a flint arrow head-the only one I ever did find. This I showed to an old fellow who was hedging; without hesitation he pronounced it to be an elf-stone, declaring that the elves were evil spirits, who in days past used to throw them at the kie-I had up to that time always been told they were shot at cattle-but my informant stuck to throwing. I well remember that he also said the elves got them out of whirlpools, where they were originally made by the water spirits, but he could not say what the water spirits used them for, though he knew of several instances in which both cattle and horses had been injured by the elves throwing elf-stones at them. He further informed me that when the elves got them from the whirlpools, they had much longer shanks than the one I had found: this was so that better aim might be taken with them. 'But' said he, 'tha're nivver fund wi' lang shanks on, acoz t' fairies awlus brak' em off, seea ez t' elves wadn't be yabble ti potch 'em at t' beeasts neea mair' and he had been told that fairies often wore them as ornaments. Sore eyes could be cured by the touch from an elf-stone, if a fairy had worn it, and they were also a potent love-charm if worn so they rested near the heart. "
Yorkshire Wit, Character, Folklore & Customs
R. Blakeborough
1911
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"This moor, according to legend, took it's name from a giant Rombald, who favoured it a good deal. The large block of sandstone at it's eastern end, known as the calf, which lies at the foot of the mass of rock called the Cow, bears an indentation which is said to be the imprint of the foot of the giant, who, in taking a stride from the Cow to Great Alms' Cliff, several miles away, broke the calf off and sent it rolling down the hillside."
The Enchanting North
J.S. Fletcher
Pub. Eveleigh Nash
1908
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"In times of old, when British nymphs were known
To love no foreign fashions like their own;
When dress was monstrous, and fig-leaves the mode,
And quality put on no paint but woad"
From Garth's poems
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"The history of another stone, the Stone of Scone, which is commonly believed to have originated here (Dunadd).
The story goes that when Fergus, the first king of Dalradia, was crowned here in AD 500, making the first footprint in the Dunadd stone, he also brought with him the Stone of Destiny, which was no less than Jacob's pillow. This was set beside a majic cauldron which always supplied the right amount of food for the number of people needing sustenance"
Celic Jouneys
Shirley Toulson
Hutchison 1985
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"Then Whitby's nuns exulting told,
How to their house three barons bold
must menial service do;
They told how in their convent-cell
A saxon princess once did dwell,
The lovely Edelfled;
And how of thousand snakes, each one
Was changed into a coil of stone
When holy Hilda pray'd -
Themselves, within their holy round,
Their stony folds had often found."
Marmion, canto ii
Sir Walter Scott.
Ord comments on this
" Sir Walter like all true antiquarians, had large faith. "These miracles" he says, "are much insisted on by all ancient writers who have occasion to mention Whitby or Saint Hilda. The relics of the snakes which infested the precincts of the convent, and were at the abbess's prayer not only beheaded but petrified, are still found about the rocks and are termed by protestant fossilists Ammonitae"
The History and Antiquities of Cleveland
J.W. Ord
1846
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"The twin dales of Fryup (Fri-hop = Frigas valley) meet to th south of the elevated oval-shaped barrier which seperates them. The southerly tip of that rising piece of moorland is called Fairy Cross Plain, a name which dates to more than two centuries, and accordingly to local folklore, this used to be the haunt of fairies"
Folktales from the North York Moors
Peter N. Walker
Pub. Hale
1990
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The son of King Osmund of Northumbria was prince Oswy.
The kings wise men told him that Oswy would drown before his third birthday.
After Oswy's second birthday, Osmund instructed his queen to take Oswy to the highest part of the land, the summit of Odinsberg (Roseberry).
He told her to make use of the hermitage.
To cut a long story short, the boy drowned in the spring that flows from the top of the hill.
The boy was buried in Tevotdale, the queen was so distraught that she died soon after. King Osmund buried his queen beside his son. Tivotdale was given a new name. it was called Oswy-by-his-mother-lay and is known today as Osmotherley.
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The Sleeping Knights of Freeborough
One legend suggests there is a deep pit shaft running directly from the summit into the depths of the earth, and that this was used to bury hundreds of dead soldiers and horses after bygone battles.
Some say it contains the bodies of those who died during the black death: indeed a grave was found on the side of the hill during the last century. This was made of whinstone blocks, which had been carried three or four miles to this site, thus indicating a grave of some importance.
The is the legend of Edward Trotter who lived in a small holding in Dimmington.
When chasing a lost lamb he found a large hole the size of a badger sett. On crawling inside the hole he found a tunnel running deep into the hill. The tunnel grew larger as he passed through it. He then came across a huge chamber with a heavy oak door studded with iron with a large iron handle.
On entering the door, Edward encountered a man in chain mail with a long spear in one hand and a sword in the other.
The man awoke and stopped Edward from running away.
The man commanded Edward to be quiet. Edward notice that there were more men in similar dress all asleep and seated at a round table.
The guard informed Edward that "we are King Arthur and his Knights of the round table, we are sleeping until our services are again required.
He then swore Edward to secrecy and told him to leave.
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"Some say his (Wade) grave is at Goldsborough where there is a standing stone called Wade's Stone: others say it is at East Barnby where there is another Wade's stone. The original two stones which were twelve feet apart have disappeared, and perhaps one of the remaining Wade's stone was, at one time for his huge grave?
The two remaining Wade's stones are a mile apart, but it would be a tremendous giant who was that tall... but if Wade really did build that causeway, if he did dig a handful of earth out of the Hole of Horcum and toss his hammer between Pickering and Mulgrave, then he could have been a mile high! Those two remaining stones might well be the extent of his grave"
Folk Tales From The North York Moors
Peter N. Walker
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The roman road known as Wades Causeway was supposed to have been built by the local giant Wade. He built the road so that his wife, Bell, could cross the swampy moors to milk her giant cow.
Bell carried the cobbles and shingles used for the road in her giant apron. Occasionally Bell's apron would slip, dropping piles of stones around the moors (the barrows and standing stones of the moors).
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The devil is supposed to be responsible for the near by Hole of Horcum or the Devils Punchbowl as it's known locally. Blakey Topping, Freeborough Hill and Roseberry Topping are supposed to be the result of the handfuls of earth thrown across the moors.
If you look at the sides of the hole you can still see his fingermarks.
Another folk tales attributes the Hole to the local giant Wade. He scooped the earth out of the ground to create Wades Causeway.
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A farmer returning home late one night heard music coming from Willy Howe. On investigation he found a door which neither he or anyone else had seen before.
He peeped inside and saw a table groaning with food and a bunch of hobs making merry.
The hobs invited him in and offered him a drink. He took the drink and then dashed off with the cup. The hobs gave chase but as soon as he crossed the first beck on his route they gave up and returned to their feast.
On arriving home he saw that the cup was a fabulous gold vessel.
He presented this cup to King Henry I who later passed it on to his brother-in-law King David of Scotland
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With reference to the previous folklore post.
"In the 1930's an old farmer in the Roppa area, used the phrase 'He wur swearing like Billy Norman coming out of the fog on the moor' ".
The North York Moors, An Introduction
Stanhope White
1979
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A Local saying
Cleveland in the clay,
Bring two shoes, carry one away.
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A a, flea fly, a magpie an bacon flitch
Is t' Yorkshireman's coit-of arms.
An't reason they've chozzen theaze things soa rich
Is becoss they hev all special charms.
A flea will bite whoivver it can-
An soa' mi lads, will a Yorkshireman;
A fly will sup wi' Dick, Tom and Dan-
An soa i'gow will a Yorkshireman;
A magpie can talk for a terrible span-
An soa an' all, can a Yorkshireman;
A flitch is noa gooid whol* it's hung, ye'll agree-
No more is a Yorkshireman, doan't ye see.
*till
Folk tales of Yorshire
H.L. Gee
1952
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" A very old custom, but which has now been pretty nigh stamped out by the county policeman, is that of ' Riding the Stang'. It is not dead yet though; I witnessed the stang being ridden as recently as 1891 in Guisborough, and in many of the villages in Wensleydale it i9s to this day resorted to when considered needed.
The Stang is held in wholesome dread by a certain class of evil-doers. Wife-beaters and immoral characters chiefly had and have the benefit of the stang. Whatever their discovered sin might be, was fully set forth in the stang doggeral. One or two points have to be, or at least are, most carefully observed: (1) The real name of the culprit must not be mentioned (2) The stang must be ridden in three seperate parishes each night: and in many places to make the proceedings quite legal, it is considered a sin qua non that the stang master must knock at the door of the man or woman they were holding up to ridicule, and ask for a pocket -piece, i.e. fourpence.
The whole proceeding was carried out as follows:-
An effigy made of straw and old clothes representing the culprit was bound to a pole* and set in an upright position in the centre of either a handcart or a small pony cart, in which was seated the stang master: and folowing behind were gathered all the ragamuffins of the village, armed with pan lids, tin cans, tin whistles, or anything which could be made to produce a discordant sound.
Being ready ,the cart was drawn in front of the culprits house and after a fearful hubbub, the stang master cried out in a sing song voice:-
Ah tinkle, Ah tinkle, Ah tinkle tang,
It's nut foor your part ner mah part
'At Ah rahd the stang,
Bud foor yan Bill Switch whau his wife did bang,
Ah tinkle, Ah tinkle, Ah tinkle tang.
He banged her, he banged her, he banged her indeed,
He banged her, he banged her, afoor sha steead need;
Upstairs aback o' t' bed
He sairly brayed her wharl she bled,
Oot o' t' hoose on ti' t' green
Sikan a seeght ez niver war seen,
Ez neean c'u'd think, ez neean could dream.
Sa ah gat ma few cumarades
Ti traal ma aboot:
Sae it's hip, hip hurrah lads,
Set up a gert shoot,
An' blaw all yer whistles,
Screeam, rattle an' bang
All 'at ivver ya've gitten,
Foor Ah ride the stang.
Then, for a few moments, there arose a tumult of sound, to which the wildest ravings of bedlam would seem insignificant. This performance lasts three nights, and on the third, the effigy is burned in front of the culprits house."
* The Pole was a stang or cow-staff
Yorkshire Wit, Character, Folklore & Customs
R. Blakeborough
Published 1911
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