A comprehensive, entertaining guide to the supernatural hiding and hauntings (and there are so many...) of the United Kingdom. From the buzzing metropA comprehensive, entertaining guide to the supernatural hiding and hauntings (and there are so many...) of the United Kingdom. From the buzzing metropolis of London to the remotest corners of Scotland, there are famous spectres and many contemporary hauntings to satisfy the curiosity of the paranormal afficonado.
I wasn't aware of the Welsh myth of the mountain that grew so angry during the Crucifixion of Christ that split in two nor did I know about the rare spirit of the two-headed ghost, the headless dog or the strange footprints like the ones found in Devil and the ghost of a mermaid. In Scotland, there is the angry spirit of the brownie that foretold the death of the master of the house at the Battle of Culloden. On moonlit nights, one can hear the Highland bagpiper lamenting the glories of the past. Did you know about the A75 road that is haunted by a literal army of ghosts, from animals to knights, to disembodied cries and attacks on cars? I had never read about Major Weir and his story was downright creepy...But I did know about Bloody Mackenzie and his attacks around the area of Greyfriars Kirkyard cemetery. Not to be neglected, the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands are home to some of the most terrifying Scottish ghosts.
From pubs to churches, to highways, castles, landscapes, buildings, the UK is a treasure trove for lovers of the paranormal and this guide is absolutely necessary to your collection....more
‘’Life can be full of difficulties and challenges - those stings of a nettle, those lurking rabbit holes. But by taking that unknown path - by embr‘’Life can be full of difficulties and challenges - those stings of a nettle, those lurking rabbit holes. But by taking that unknown path - by embracing the spirit of being eighteen - the rewards can be manifold. Who knows what sun-dapple orchards or gently flowing streams await?’’
‘’And as you pull open the door, and head down the stairs to join the others, you step forward into the rest of your life. Ready for whatever the future may hold. Ready for whatever is written in the stars.’’
In this outstanding book, you will have dinner with queens, historians, thespians, fashion designers, scientists, adventurers, doctors, poets, writers. You will have dinner with people like you and me whose fate became synonymous with Britain’s destiny. You will come to understand that at eighteen we thought we could change the world. Some of us succeeded in doing just that. Others wanted to ‘just be adults, finally’. And we managed to do so. At eighteen, the world is there for the taking.
Alice Loxton is an amazing writer. The freshness of her narration, the vividness with which she breathes life into larger-than-life personalities, the way her writing makes everything and everyone so approachable is nothing short of outstanding. She is a treasure for Britain, and for all of us who adore History told not in a textbook ‘voice’ but in the spirit of our time. She makes History come alive in the most striking way possible.
From the Venerable Bede to Geoffrey Chaucer, from Empress Matilda to Elizabeth I, from Horace Nelson to Mary Anning, from Elsie Inglis to Vita Sackville-West, from Richard Burton to Vivienne Westwood, eighteen Britons await for you to discover them in all their early adult glory in a book that will captivate your heart.
‘’Without further ado, this is a story of young people who made their mark and played a part in the story of Britain. Hold onto your party hats. It is much more surprising, exciting and impressive than you might expect. This is a snapshot of Britain through the eighteen-year-olds who have sculpted it. This is what it means to be British. This is what it means to be eighteen.’’
Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. ...more
‘’All houses wherein men have lived and died Are haunted houses. Through the open doors The harmless phantoms on their errands glide, With feet that m‘’All houses wherein men have lived and died Are haunted houses. Through the open doors The harmless phantoms on their errands glide, With feet that make no sound upon the floors.’’ Haunted Houses, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Buckland Abbey, Dartmoor. The crimes of the wreckers, preying upon the North Devon coast, resulting in tragedies too terrible for words and manors that seem to move. In Glastonbury Abbey where Christianity meets legend in St Joseph of Arimathea and King Arthur, monks and women drift down the corridors, echoing a past that still fascinates us After all, the Tor hidden in the mists is one of the most beautiful sights you will ever experience. The Ancient Ram Inn, the Tower of London, Canterbury, Preston Manor, Hampton Court Palace with its Anne Boleyn spectre. Houses so cursed that had to be torn down, battlefields echoing the souls that met their end in blood.
Religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants that produced some of the blackest pages in European History. Cannock Chase where portals open, lost in the millennia, and a Black-Eyed child terrorise visitors since the 70s. After all, who said ghosts are meant to stay in the past? High Peak District hides the scene of a tragic love and Newstead Abbey is forever sealed by the fate of its famous inhabitant, Lord Byron himself. Beware of the Lantern Man and the terrifying Black Shuck in Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire and see if you can meet the unjustly perished family of the Boleyns in Blickling. Sutton Hoo and Pendle Hill stand witnesses to a glorious and dark past, from the Anglo-Saxon era to the terrible witch-hunting and the cries of the innocent. In Cumbria you may listen to the cries of the Crier of Claife. In North Yorkshire, in Treasurer’s House, spectres appear by the dozen, from ladies to Roman soldiers stuck in the loop of the centuries that go by. The Thackray Museum of Medicine, Bamburgh Castle and Chillingham Castle in Northumberland (with the coolest Torture Chamber ever and the story of a devil in human form that once ‘’worked’’ there as a professional torturer.
From Ceredigion and Caerphilly in Wales to Ballygally Castle in County Antrim and the mythical Mourne Mountains in County Down in Northern Ireland, from Glencoe and the Scottish Highlands to haunting Edinburgh, Britain is there to remind us that life beyond the grave DOES exist in various forms. The nay-sayers can go and read a book or something, their opinion is irrelevant anyway.
I have dozens of books on Britain and its hauntings, its spectres and legends. This volume is going to become THE guide to a troubled, violent, yet enchanting past. And Anna Groves is a brilliant writer!
Thank God for the National Trust.
Many thanks to National Trust Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
**spoiler alert** Having loved Blood Queen and since King Lear and Cordelia hold an exceptional place in my heart, I was more than enthusiastic to sta**spoiler alert** Having loved Blood Queen and since King Lear and Cordelia hold an exceptional place in my heart, I was more than enthusiastic to start Iron Queen.
I was severely disappointed...
Through four 'units' named after the four major festivals in the Celtic Calendar (Imbolc, Samhain, Lughnasad and Beltaine), this is the story of Cordelia, Goneril and Regan, daughters to Leir and Branwen, taking part in a furious, relentless game of power and domination.
But.
Why do we need 150+ pages about dog breeding, puppies and dog tags? What's with the wings and flying? Ancient Greeks did it first and did it well. What's with the jarring, outrageously ridiculous nicknames of Dee, and Ree, and Gee? Are we in a series set in junior high school or something? What's with the ''er''s? The druidesses/prostitutes? The uninspiring dialogue, the love story suitable for teenagers whose only relation to reading is the screen of their mobile phones?
359 pages and the story becomes vaguely interesting (and then, falls flat again) after page 284. The Historical Notes were atrocious, revealing a woeful self-absorbed side of the writer and I begin to believe that Blood Queen was written by a different author. If you want to write Game of Thrones - style, you must know how.
Unfortunately, in this case, the Bard did it better and his monumental play should have remained untouched and not made into a ridiculously shallow teenage rump.
I will continue with Fire Queen but my expectations have become significantly lower.
Sidenote time: Dear writer, Christianity may be a 'rigid' religion to the likes of you, but at least WE DO NOT SACRIFICE PEOPLE.
Scots playing tricks on an Englishman, resulting in linguistic misunderstandings. A ‘’poet’’ in love with himself, unaware of a frightful lack of any Scots playing tricks on an Englishman, resulting in linguistic misunderstandings. A ‘’poet’’ in love with himself, unaware of a frightful lack of any talent whatsoever publishing his ‘’gems’’ until his death. A book that practically predicted 80% of future inventions. The tremendous influence of Robert Burns in Literature and Culture and the impact of Sir Walter Scott that shaped an entire genre from scratch. Did you know that Tolkien did NOT invent the term ‘Middle - Earth’ or that the great Dr Johnson wanted to make amends for denying his father help? Discover the mysteries of haunting Whitby, the moors adored by Emily Bronte, the nostalgia of Beatrix Porter’s world, the seventeen days on Morecambe pier that have us John Osborne’s masterpiece Look Back in Anger.
Trace the bond between Ivanhoe and Robin Hood, witness the premiere of Christie’s The Mousetrap in Nottingham and the origins of the British National Anthem. I was amazed to learn about Marie Corelli in a chapter where Oliver Tearle skins the idiots who refuse to accept that Shakespeare IS actually…Shakespeare and I am SO here for it! Discover little stories about the pub where Christopher Lee met Tolkien, how Bletchley Park gave us our freedom from the Nazi monsters, how Anna Sewell’s mother, Mary, contributed to the creation of one of the finest books in Children’s Literature.
What is Britain’s most unfortunate town? Why is Fleet Street so laden with dark stories? Who was Anne Anskw, a prisoner in Newgate and one of the first female poets to compose in the English language? We will walk through London from Paternoster Square, Westminster Abbey, and Brick Lane. What were the secrets of Robert Browning’s haunting poetry?
From Applegarth and Burgess’s home to Milne’s Hartfield, the Welsh coast and Dylan Thomas, to Austen’s Bath. From Lady Charlotte Guest and The Mabinogion to the tragic life of Thomas Chatterton, John Aubrey’s love for Stonehenge and Avebury, Winston Churchill’s affinity for ‘kisses xxx’. Walk with Thomas Hardy into his Wessex, visit Stinsford where his heart lies and discover Cecil Day-Lewis’s final resting place. Find out how crazed fans exasperated Tolkien and the rumblings of a ‘prophetess’ who actually thought she was the real deal. Marvel at du Maurier’s Cornwall and finish your journey looking for King Arthur as his voice echoes through the mists.
This is only a handful of the places Oliver Tearle calls us to discover in his beautiful book, on a journey in the land of Literature. Written with vividness, gusto and utmost respect, you need this book in your life if you want to be called a true lover of books.
This journey in the folklore of Britain and Ireland will bring us to Lothian, one of the ancient kingdoms of Scotland that took its name from Loth, KiThis journey in the folklore of Britain and Ireland will bring us to Lothian, one of the ancient kingdoms of Scotland that took its name from Loth, King Arthur’s brother-in-law, and more specifically in the district of Midlothian whose heart beats in Edinburgh.
We meet an elderly lady whose passion for her apple tree leads to a visit from Death and a clever trick, we uncover four mysterious small coffins whose origin and purpose remain unknown to this day and did you know that in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, an ass of a man once sold his wife by public auction? In Newhaven, a young woman and her baby become the tree to protect and bless their village while the fights between Catholics and Protestants are never far away.
In another outstanding legend, a young woman named Maggie was hanged and lived twice because everything can happen in Scotland… Another girl discovers that her father takes part in dark rituals in a tale that will freeze your blood. Speaking for myself, I had my answer as to what is that small statue of a Moor near Canongate. We are given a lovely, spirited version of Grimm’s tale The Elves and the Shoemaker, and we meet a brilliant girl who refused to marry a brutish idiot, tricking him into marrying a horse. And, naturally, we have highwaymen, Grey Ladies, Hell Hounds and Selkies.
Lea Taylor is an extraordinary storyteller. She creates wonders by mixing the past and the present, the legends and the details of daily life, and breathes life into tales that echo the spirit of one of the most beautiful regions of our world.
This is my favourite volume in the series, and reading it was a true privilege.
‘’There is melancholy in lights glimpsed from a distance’’, she said, ‘’A party to which one has not been invited.’’
When I am in the car and the night‘’There is melancholy in lights glimpsed from a distance’’, she said, ‘’A party to which one has not been invited.’’
When I am in the car and the night has fallen, I love gazing at the lit windows of the houses that pass over my eyes. Thankfully, I don’t drive, so I can enjoy the scenery to my heart’s content. Some windows shed too bright a light, most are dimly lit and soothing. I always wonder what kind of people live inside, what their stories might be. This is one of the times when we might feel like ghosts…Watching lives from a distance, a mirror….
The quote I chose was one of many beautiful moments in this collection. Eight of the most significant British writers of our time have written stories dedicated to their favourite English landmarks, simultaneously paying homage to the great heritage of the British Ghost stories.
Sarah Perry and Jeanette Winterson are only two of the writers that speak to us about spectres from the other side. And yet, is there an ‘’other side’’? The ghosts that haunt the ruins of buildings lost back in time are very much ‘’alive’’ in the world of the living. They haunt land and souls. They want to speak, to love, to punish.
The stories are as particular and unique as their creators. These aren’t ordinary, average writers and the tales included aren’t the common, run-of-the-mill, ghostly ‘’products’’. Some of them may even have you wondering why they’re actually called ‘’ghost’’ stories. There is no shocking factor here, no violent descriptions, no slasher-films gimmicks. These are tales that touch on perceptions, beliefs, feelings and memories.
The stories that stood out, in my opinion, were:
‘’They Flee From Me That Sometimes Did Me Seek’’ by Sarah Perry. Perry isn’t able to write an average text, even of she deliberately tried to. I think we have established this by now. Possibly the best new voice in the endless wealth that is British Literature, here she creates an exquisite tale that touches the thin line between the metaphysical and the absurd. The title, derived by Sir Thomas Wyatt’s beautiful poem, is the heart of the story but you’ll have to read it to understand it. One of the most attractive, elegant stories in the collection.
‘’The Bunker’’ by Mark Haddon. A weird, hallucinatory story, written in impeccably beautiful language.
‘’Foreboding’’ by Kamila Shamsie. A haunting story of finding yourself in a foreign country, realizing that ghosts aren’t the worst thing that can happen. A tale that talks about the pain of the refugees and the themes of family and death.
‘’Never Departed More’’ by Stuart Evers. One of the strangest stories in this collection. What starts as an unusual method of a troubled actress for a film based on Ophelia, becomes a journey through this world and the one beyond that is closer than we think. An -almost- psychological study, a tale steeped in madness and obsession.
’The Wall’’ by Kate Clanchy. A sad, yet hopeful story of a mother and a daughter who decide to deal with tragedy and rediscover themselves in the ruins of Hadrian’s Wall.
‘’As Strong As Death’’ by Jeanette Winterson. Possibly, the finest story in the collection. Well, small wonder since it’s Jeanette Winterson we’re talking about. A tale that centers on love, loss and acceptance, while taking glimpses in many pivotal moments in British history.
The Afterwards section is dedicated to a short analysis of the unique development of the British Ghost story tradition, referring to some of the most well-known spectres of the Old Albion. There is also a brief history of the landmarks that become the stage for these beautiful, absurd, haunting stories. Poetic texts, informative and a bit nostalgic for the presence of the past, inexplicable and fascinating.
To say that the writers of the stories stept on ‘’familiar’’ tropes or to claim that they ‘’played it safe’’ is more than simplistic. It’s sacrilege, permit me the use of the word. With Rowan Routh as the editor, eight gifted souls joined forces to create not mere ghost stories, but passages that touch the heart of the readers. They brought forth all that is good and inspiring and dignified in what we call ‘’Literature’’…...more
‘’Stand on the flat top of Pendle Hill and you can see everything of the county of Lancashire. Some say you can see other things too. This is a haunte‘’Stand on the flat top of Pendle Hill and you can see everything of the county of Lancashire. Some say you can see other things too. This is a haunted place. The living and the dead come together on the hill.’’
Jeanette Winterson is one of those writers that can take a single, tiny word out of context and create fiction that transcends boundaries. In ‘’The Daylight Gate’’, she weaves her tale around the well-known trials of the Pendle Witches in 1612, the most significant witch trials on British soil and one of the most infamous in the course of the persecution of witchcraft around the world. I can tell you from the very start that this isn’t a book for everyone. There are many details and events that can make the most sensitive of readers feel uncomfortable. However, Historical Fiction and obscure facts linked to those troubled eras aren’t exactly a walk in the park. Speaking strictly for me, this had my name written all over it and I could see that 5 stars were on their way before I finished the 3rd chapter. But I am always attracted to the obscure, the weird, the sinister….
‘’The North is the dark place.’’
The northern parts of England are particularly steeped in darkness. The moorlands create a perfect scenery for all kinds of hauntings and mischievous deeds (and don’t we love those?) Winterson brings the story of the documented trials to a whole new level, as the hill, the forests and the Malkin tower come alive and lend their wild beauty to this tale of the women who defied the norms of their era, as ambiguous as they might have been. A dark land where the darkest deeds come from suspects that may or may not be justified in their wrong-doings. Lancashire is considered to be one of the most beautiful corners of Britain, its dramatic history and landscape makes it attractive and mysterious.
‘’Baptised twice- once for God and once for Satan.’’
Alice Nutter is a beautiful widow who has acquired a significant amount of fortune through her hard work that produced a special kind of magenta dye. She hasn’t inherited anything from a father or a husband. She created everything herself. This cannot be understood by the male authorities of the county that try to bring her to trial on the basis of a pact with the Dark Gentleman. There is an abundance of want-to-be witches in the story, but are they as they want to appear? Has every single one of them sold her soul to Satan? If they had, well, allow me to say, much good it did to them, because frankly? Their power wasn’t as strong as they claimed to be. No, Winterson doesn’t create wonderwomen, ready to take down their enemies. She creates realistic characters that want to live their life, without being threatened by the same men that let them go free only to capture them again, as a twisted whim, depending on their purposes. So, some of them decide to follow the Left – Hand Path (or so they think, anyway) to gain freedom and access to revenge. They are disillusioned, this much is clear, and they are more naive and desperate than dangerous.
’You have a god to forgive you your sins. I carry mine with me every day.’’
Alice is a wonderful character. Conflicted, brave, sensitive, compassionate, insecure. A gem. She loves with all her might and fights for it. She doesn’t shy away from her faults or her weaknesses, nor does she try to justify her mistakes. She is what she has chosen to be and that is why she comes across as a magnificent main character. Roger Nowell is also intriguing and fascinating. He is conflicted as well, perhaps more than Alice, since he is a man of power and influence, but with feelings that cannot come forth because of his position. The interactions between the two characters are electrifying, full of underlying emotions. And this is how a writer shows that you don’t need romance and the like to make a story interesting….
Winterson combines two key moments in the reign of James V, the Gunpowder Plot and the Witch Plot. Were the two ever linked? Possibly. It doesn’t matter, because the way in which she weaves the story around them is impeccable. John Dee and William Shakespeare are influential presences in the narrative, along with our well-known dark entity that is more felt than shown in the story. Furthermore, Winterson manages to focus on the absurd conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants that shaped British history. The nature of her writing is brave, a knife in the marrow, even for the readers who are experienced in the subject and the era. There are quite a few bloody images as Winterson doesn’t shy away from the cruelty and vulgarity of the era. Abused women and children, abused souls by the ones who pray endlessly, wishing to appear pious to God, although their table in Hell has already been reserved and laid, waiting for them. There is an excellent scene of a Good Friday dinner that is guaranteed to bring you chills.
The ending of the trials is well-known to us who find the particular subject fascinating. And yet, Winterson’s talent made me wish for Alice and the others to find some peace amidst the madness and the prejudices. Perhaps, they did. Who knows? In an era, where even fellow Christians were considered evil and servants of Satan because they attended Mass and prayed to the Holy Cross. I mean, the persecutors should have made up their minds, because the Cross and Satan don’t make for a compatible fellowship, obviously….
I cannot recommend this book enough and yet, I know that not many will choose to read it. If you are hesitant, I say give it a chance, but proceed with caution, as Winterson portrays the bloody era in all its disturbing, violent glory. It’s a book that gave me nightmares, but this is the best kind of reads, in my opinion. The ones that enter the soul and cause feelings we may not like, but to experience them means that we were touched in some way or another….
‘’Oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles to betray’s in deepest consequence’’.
Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 3
Yes, sweet Banquo, but what are the true instruments of darkness in this tale?
How can I find and put together the suitable words and write a review about one of the most iconic creations in World Literature? One of those books tHow can I find and put together the suitable words and write a review about one of the most iconic creations in World Literature? One of those books that provoke such intense feelings that either you worship them or you utterly hate them. There is no middle ground. Every year, I revisit Wuthering Heights for two reasons. First, it is one of my personal Christmas traditions and secondly, I prepare extracts to use in class for my intermediate level students. This year, I finally felt confident enough to write a text. I will not call it a review, but a summary of what this masterpiece means for me, what I feel each time I gaze upon its title.
I was 12 when my mother made me a special gift. (I have a mother that gave me a book about self-destructive love and a father that gave me Crime and Punishment a year later. I know, they rock!) It was a thick volume with a dark cover. A cover as black as the night scene it depicted. A young couple running in the moors against the wind, and a black, foreboding mansion looming in the background. To this day, that cherished Greek edition of Emily’s only novel is the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. I read it in a single day. I remember it was a windy day, a summer torrent rain that lasted all afternoon. It left me speechless. It shaped me. It shaped my reading preferences, it shaped my love for eerie, dark, doomed, haunting stories with twisted anti-heroes. It even shaped the choice of my profession.
When I was 15, one of the best teachers I’ve ever had gave us a project. She divided us into groups and asked us to make a presentation of our favourite book. She put me in a group with two classmates. Such kind and charming souls they were but would never open a book if their lives depended on it. I didn’t care, I was happy because I’d get to choose the book. We left our teacher crying buckets in the classroom, marking a heroic A+ on our papers. During the 3rd year in university, we had to complete individual assignments. I’ll let you guess the theme and the book I chose. My professor had to interrupt me at some point, kindly but firmly. ”Yes, thank you, Amalia, this is great, but there are others waiting, you know.” Were they? Anyway, you get the point. My level of obsession with this novel equals Heathcliff’s obsession with Cathy.
Emily Brontë’s novel may not be for everyone. It doesn’t matter. Nothing is for everyone. But, she has created an eternal tale -or nightmare – of a love that is destructive, dark, twisted and stranger than all the other sweet, lovey-dovey stories that have been written. She has created one of the most iconic couples in Literature, she has provided the first and finest example of the Anti-hero in the face of Heathcliff. She has ruined many girls’ expectations, because who wouldn’t want to be loved as fiercely as Cathy was? (For years, my notion of the ideal man was Ralph Fiennes as Heathcliff in the 1992 film. The best adaptation of the novel, with Juliette Binoche as Cathy) How many writers who have written only one novel can claim to have accomplished all these?
One of the reasons I became a teacher was to have the opportunity to teach this book. It is my greatest satisfaction when I see its impact on my teenage students. They are familiar with the bleak and twisted tales of our times, nothing shocks them anymore. They love it unanimously, it is a rare case where boys and girls love the same book equally. So, mission accomplished.
”I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!” For me, this book is my soul. It lies there, making the question ”What is your favourite book?” the easiest ever.
P.S. Please, God, when I die, put me in a sector where I can meet Emily. You can keep Shakespeare, Austin, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. I prefer long talks with a disturbed, fragile, wild girl…...more
‘’On a winter’s evening, with mist moving like a cold breath between the stones, it’s easy to imagine that the old spirits still walk here. Even in re‘’On a winter’s evening, with mist moving like a cold breath between the stones, it’s easy to imagine that the old spirits still walk here. Even in relatively recent times, children tiptoed up to the chamber and listened for the clink of a smith’s hammer; so did their ancestors, stretching back in an unbroken line for a thousand years, to the time of the Anglo-Saxons. King Alfred himself knew the tale and versions of it were told in feasting halls across Northern Europe.’’
Be on your guard and tread silently for King Arthur and his knights sleep beneath St Michael’s Mount, awaiting the day when the realm will need them once more. Look for the traces of the Arthurian saga in Tintagel and Lyonesse. In West Devon, where Saint Michael crushed the Devil, a formidable church protects the land. At the same time, in Dartmoor druids, ghosts and hounds from Hell add to the mysticism and eerieness of the landscape that inspired the finest Sherlock Holmes mystery The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Who hasn’t marvelled at the sight of Cerne Giant in Dorset? Who hasn’t felt the aura of spirituality, and tranquillity in Glastonbury? Who hasn’t heard the whispers of the past while gazing at Glastonbury Tor? As the sun rises over Stonehenge, the stones sing the silent song of ages lost in the mist of time along with their distant cousins in Avebury. The trees of Chanctonbury Ring hide dark secrets, screams and wails and rituals of the Devil and the White Cliffs of Dover murmur their British lullaby of pride and everlasting might.
The Wild Hunt, the legend of Robin Hood and his Merry Men in the Sherwood Forest, Gogmagog, the Sutton Hoo helmet, the Great Stone of Lyng that bleeds echoing the bloodshed of sacrifices and battles, the Green Men, the secrets of Alderley Edge, Mayburgh Henge and King Arthur’s Round Table, Blencathra and the tale of Excalibur.
‘’The King is gone from Bambrough castle: Long may the Princess mourn, Long may she stand on the castle wall, Looking for his return.’’ (Trad. ballad credited to Robert Lambe, from William Hutchinson’s A View of Northumberland, 1778)
Bamburgh Castle holds the keys to a mythic past from Lancelot’s Joyous Guard to battles of freedom and conquest. Bran’s head secures the safety of the realm, Deirdre and Naoise find refuge in Alba before the tragic end of their story, Diarmuid and Grainne’s legend begins in Ben Gulabin. The terrifying Cailleach brings cold and sadness into people’s hearts, while Ben Macdui is haunted by a dark presence that makes brave men flee in terror. In Calanais, in the Hebrides, a mysterious figure walks down the path towards the stones on the summer solstice, visiting the giants that refused to build a church and were turned to stone.
This is only a mere handful of the legends that can be found in this extraordinary book. Jo Woolf invites us on a journey to the myths of England, Scotland and Wales, a haunting dance within the recesses of a past so distant, yet ever-present in European culture. Embellished with illustrations by Claire Harrup, this gem should definitely find a place in your bookcase.
‘’But remember that, when England is in peril, King Arthur and his knights will wake and ride out valiantly across the plain.’’
Many thanks to National Trust Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
''It was amazing how quiet London could be. Not only in the big parks, but in great walled enclosures like the Temple or in the old churches like St ''It was amazing how quiet London could be. Not only in the big parks, but in great walled enclosures like the Temple or in the old churches like St Bartholomew's, there was a silence that seemed to take one back for centuries. Even here in the City the office buildings rising high over the narrow streets provided a screen so that the sounds of London's busy traffic could scarcely be heard. She glanced up at the sky. Still blue.'' ...more
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