I once spent about a week hanging out with Caoimhin Mac Aoidh, noted Donegal fiddler and historian, particularly on all things Donegal fiddle. He wrote about the tune Maighdean Mhara Mhullach Mhoir, or The Maid or more precise, The Mermaid of Mullaghmore. I was driving up the coast of Donegal, on the way to the village of Teelin, […]
Why do lovers leap? Native American myths and a lookout from Rock City, high above Chattanooga, Tennessee
Mark Twain wrote in the nineteenth century that there were fifty locations along the Mississippi River that claimed the title of lover’s leap. In fact, they are spread out not only across this country, but others as well. Nobody knows where, or even if there was a place where this legend springs from, a single […]
Traveling back in time to explore the hauntings in Parsonage Woods, and the ghosts of Castle Combe
If you’re looking for the picture book English village, it’s hard to find better, at least in Wiltshire. Lacock is a bit more refined, with about twice the traffic from what I’ve seen. Then again, I’ve never been to Castle Combe in the summer. It was a winter stop. Technically we were there for a […]
True witch legends from southern Illinois … giving Carmi’s Cato the witch the last laugh on her neighbors, and an insight into folklore and history
There’s a difference between folklore out here in the prairies of the United States, than say, the folklore of Britain. When people starting collecting the unwritten tales of small rural communities across Britain and Europe in the 19th century, our ancestors were just getting here, bringing their folklore with them. There was no folklore to […]
Old Sarum ley line with Salisbury Cathedral and Clearbury Ring, from Old Sarum’s ramparts
The Old Sarum Ley was identified by Sir Norman Lockyear, and runs from north of Stonehenge to the western bank of Frankenbury Camp, near Fordinbridge, Hampshire. This photo was taken from Old Sarum, an Iron Age hill-fort, which became a Roman town, then Saxon and eventually a fortified castle and cathedral, once the residence of […]
Sunrise through the trees and the Southwest entrance stones to Avebury Circle and Henge
People are always going on about celestial alignments with the neolithic stone circles of Britain, Ireland and beyond. But it’s a simple fact, these are, more or less, circles. Stand in the middle and eventually there well be a solar or other celestial alignment for every stone. The solstices, the equinoxes will usually line up […]
Adam and Eve Longstones on a Misty Day
The longstones, known locally as Adam and Eve likely was the terminus for the Beckhampton Avenue, which was believed to have extended from the Avebury circle and was obliterated in the post medieval era. The slender stone, Eve, was likely the last stone in the avenue. Adam was part of a four sided cove which remained […]
Pickled, buried in lead beneath their death masks in the crypt at Farleigh Hungerford Castle
A collection of eight lead coffins can be found in the crypt of Farleigh Hungerford Castle in Somerset. Bodies were essentially pickled and put into the anthropomorphic caskets to hold them together. The faces were carved from death masks. It’s believed this is the largest collection of lead coffins in Britain.
