Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Category: Legends

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Folklore / Folktales / Irish Folktales / Legends

Irish Folklore

From Newgrange – a reminder of a great age of monument building and ritual – through to natural wonders such as the Giant’s Causeway, Ireland is a land of legend and mystery. The landscape is full of echoes of history interwoven with a rich mythology that forms an impressive and colourful heritage.

Apparitions / Ghost Ships / Hauntings / Legends

Goodwin Sands

The Goodwin Sands is a treacherous sand bank in the Channel a few miles off Deal, which has been the site of litterally hundreds of shipwrecks in centuries past, one of the last notable victims being the Ross Revenge, last of the pirate radio ships, in 1991.

Dragons / Festivals / Legends / May

The Helston Flurry Dance

8th May – The Helston Flurry Dance takes place, where Helstonians take part in a pagan ritual processional dance through the town in a custom that pre-dates Christianity and probably dates back to Celtic times. The dance takes place each eighth of May unless it falls on a Sunday or Monday and was probably originally a fertility or Spring festival.

Dragons / Festivals / Legends / May

Padstow Hobby Horse (Oss)

1st May – The festival starts at midnight in the early hours of Mayday. The actual Hobby Horse is a hoop covered with black material with an African mask, and a horses head with snapping jaws. A man stands inside the hoop and the procession parades around the town. The festival has ancient origins.

Articles / Dragons / Legends

The Linton Worm

During the twelfth century a worm lived in a hollow on the Northeast side of Linton Hill (called Worms Den today).

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Articles / Legends / Mabinogion

Lludd (Llud) and Llefelys (Llevelys)

The earliest origins of this story are obscure, but it first appears in the twelfth century, when Geoffrey of Monmouth included it in his History of the Kings of Britain. Monmouth’s version was the basis for what is perhaps the best-known version, which appears in ‘The Mabinogion’, the collection of old Welsh stories compiled by Lady Charlotte Guest in the late 19th century.

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Articles / Folklore / Folktales / Legends / Mabinogion / Welsh Folktales

The Dream of Maxen Wledig

The Dream of Maxen Wledig is one of the Medieval Welsh tales translated by Lady Charlotte Guest, which were published collectively as the Mabinogion in 1849. The story is rooted in a mythic interpretation of the twilight of Roman era in Britain.

Apparitions / Hauntings / Legends

Culzean Castle

Culzean Castle stands on the site of a 15th century Kennedy stronghold. The castle was completely redesigned by Robert Adam between 1777 and 1792, under the 10th Earl of Cassillis.

Apparitions / Devil / Hauntings / Legends

Ardrossan Castle

Ardrossan Castle sits in a prominent position on castle hill above the town and is now in a ruined and dangerous condition. The castle was important during the Scottish – English wars, and was scene to an infamous event known as Wallace’s Larder. An English garrison was stationed at the Castle, and Wallace arranged a decoy fire in the village.

Legends

Dunure Castle and the Roasted Abbot

Once a Kennedy stronghold, this castle is now a crumbling ruin eroding steadily into the sea with every passing Ayrshire winter. In 1570 it was the scene for the legendary roasting of the abbot of Crossraguel.