Old Folktales: The King of the Cats
The story of the ‘King of the Cats’ can be found in folklore from a number of regions and countries. In this tale, cats appear to have the power to speak to humans in order to pass on information to other cats…
Piskies, Knockers and Tommyknockers – Cornwall’s Misunderstood Folklore
The Folklore of Cornwall: The Oral Tradition of a Celtic Nation addresses everything from piskies – south west Britain’s fairies – to mermaids, harvest festivals, a corpse visiting his betrothed, and the giants long noted for making the Cornish peninsula their home. And amid all this are the spirits of the mines – knockers together with the tommyknockers, their New World descendants.
Tapping the Admiral: Nelson, Trafalgar & the Corpse in the Cask
The phrase “Tapping the Admiral” originates from a piece of folklore surrounding the death of Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in October of 1805.
Rashiecoats: A Traditional Scottish Story
Here is my version of Rashiecoats a traditional Scottish story, about a princess who came from a land of towers near a marshland, a long, long time ago…
Fairy Folklore: Come Away, O Human Child
To be led astray, Peter Pan style, by a fairy – ‘pixie led’ – is an old fear from isolated communities where weather and terrain seemed to judge and punish.