Monsters In The UK…Not Just Chavs And Pikeys!
This is the first post dedicated to Dan after his win in the Easter Egg Hunt. His chosen topic was: “some of the folklore of the UK”. So, I’m going to give a brief overview of the subject, because it’d be a bit of a bugger to collect it all!
I’m going to avoid the Celtic views, because Ireland is it’s own country. However, I find it important to note that we, as a nation, have also cobbled together stories based on the folklore of other European nations who have conquered us in the past. Romans, Vikings, Normans, all mixed in their stories to our folklore and gave us their creatures to play with.
The problem with the majority of folklore in the United Kingdom is that a lot of it is based off of legends focusing on heroes being valiant and victorious, more so than the creatures they encounter. Stories abound about dragons, but only those who are pre-destined to be slain by a well-groomed knight, and characters like Robin Hood and the Arthurian knights get many tales and poems about them. Of course, there are also many tales of elves, duerger, fairies, imps, pixies, sprites, dragons and other assorted legendary creatures, but these are often shared quite widely too.
Excluding ghost stories, there are very few actual terrifying creatures in modern telling. Although, ghost stories themselves are fairly common, albeit usually consisting of run-of-the-mill restless dead who seek revenge for their untimely demise or wish to serve their afterlife as a warning beacon to others. Part of the growing strength, I believe, to the belief in ghosts and ghost stories in the UK is that we have a plentiful supply of creepy old buildings and small rural areas, which keep the illusion that people hold alive, a vast number of pubs hold a haunting spectre as a marketable ploy, there are numerous White or Grey Ladies throughout the country, and the Tower of London has some rather remarkable celebrity ghosts.
Other famous ghostly entities include the Will o’ the Wisp, which were the supernatural explanation for lights seen over bogs or areas where there is often some form of natural decomposition taking place. Will o’ the Wisps’ are said to lure people in to marshes and bogs, leading to the wanderers death.
One version of the origin tells of a wicked blacksmith who on his death is given a second chance at life by Saint Peter to prove he should be allowed entry, but leads such a bad life that he ends up being doomed to wander the Earth, seeing this the Devil gives the blacksmith a single burning coal for warmth, which he then used to lure foolish travellers into the marshes. The story is not too different from the Irish story of Jack o’ Lantern.
The ghostly Black Dog, made more commonplace by the Harry Potter stories where it is merged with the legends of the Church Grim, are quite a widespread piece of folklore in England, even reserving special names in different regions, for example: the benevolent, protective Gurt Dog of Somerset (Gurt being the Somerset term for large) and Padfoot in Wakefield.
The Dog often acts as a foreshadowing creature, warning of a coming death in the immediate location and quite often can haunt locations of past deaths. Newgate Prison is supposed to be the home for a black dog for over 400 years, who appears before executions, while another dog in Hertfordshire is believed to always frequent the spot in Tring where they would hang condemned men. Perhaps the most vicious of these is the Barghest, which is one of the few Black Dogs to be established as a hunter, preying on lone travellers in dark alleys.
The Church Grim, on the other hand, is more an attendant spirit to a church yard and protector of the grounds from evil, and can appear either as humanoid or canine figures.
Dogs aren’t alone in this though, as the UK has a large number of Phantom Cats, which are believed to be like panthers skulking through moors and fields hunting on livestock. Though, some believe that there are actual real big cats in the UK, but that these have been released from private collections. Typically, they’ll earn the name “Beast of [place]“, such as Exmoor, Bodmin Moor and Riber.
Most other folklore tales that feature fearsome creatures or ghosts are usually used as a warning to children or an explanation to certain strange occurrences or noises. Though there are some that exist, the lack of great foreboding forests of tall, sharp trees – such as one may find in Germanic or Scandinavian regions – makes it quite obvious that our number would be lower for these creatures.
Instead, a large part of UK folklore comes from Pagan and Druidic beliefs, focused around fertility and harvests, which brings traditions of Morris Dancing and Maypoles to events even to this day. These beliefs also provide characters, such as the Green Man, which although it seemed to start as a head surrounded by foliage, has been merged with the May Day character Jack in the Green to make him seem more like a full-bodied earth elemental, trickster and fertility symbol.
A lot of folklore for the UK, in particular England, comes from legendary explanations of sites of interests, such as standing stones and geologic features. There was a practice during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages to form standing stones in countryside, and stories were often attributed to mystical means of their placement – such as tales of people turned to stone or the devil himself throwing huge stone arrows that buried deep in to the ground. Even place names can feature elements of folkloric reference, such as Goblin Combe (where pixies kidnap children who pick primroses).
Witchcraft plays an important role in some of the UK folklore, as it does throughout most of Europe. There are certain characters who manage to fill bogeyman roles as witches. Black Annis of Leicestershire, for example, is a blue-faced crone with iron claws and a taste for flesh who goes out onto the glens at night looking for unsuspecting children and lambs to eat, then hang their skins around her waist.
The most common use of bogeyman and witch warning is towards the dangers of riverways and standing bodies of water, with the likes of Jenny Greenteeth, Peg Powler and Grindylows as traditional scare tactics. Peg and Jenny share a common appearance of green skin, sharp teeth and long hair, and all are said to reside in the water, ready to pull children in and drown them, though Jenny will also attack the elderly and Peg tends to focus on naughty children. Grindylows, which were softened by the Harry Potter series, would actually eat children instead of drown them.
Not all malevolent water creatures were ugly though, the Morgens of Wales were creatures not unlike the Sirens of Greek mythology. Eternally young, the creatures were said to lure men to their death with their beauty or with glimpses of underwater gardens.
An additional witch story, that I’d like to add here because I had a tour of it in primary school, is the Witch of Wookey Hole. The Witch of Wookey Hole is a stalagmite in the first chamber of the Wookey Hole show caves. The stalagmite was allegedly originally a witch who frequently curses budding relationships after she was jilted, her downfall came when she cursed the romance between a Glastonbury man and a girl from Wookey, the man became a monk and seeking revenge tips a bucket of holy water on her head, petrifying her.
English witch folklore has also been used to great, though not necessarily good, effect on other cultures. If you are familiar with the concept of Voodoo, then you are likely also familiar with the traditional Voodoo doll. No, actually you probably aren’t. You see, European witchcraft used small dolls called poppets to curse and cause harm, whereas Voodoo practices used Bocheos effigies and pegs for healing energies. However, Christian missionaries decided they’d much prefer for Voodoo to be evil and hex-making, so they applied European witchcraft to local beliefs. Though it’s spread may have something to do with its ability to intimidate superstitious slave-holders.
Wow! That was awesome! Thank you so much! I envy you that you have such a rich history of folklore there, here we have Bigfoot and a few lesser known ones such as the Boggy Creek Monster. Most of our folklore has to do with ghosts rather than creepy monster figures. Kinda disturbing to me that they made the will o’the wisp into a cartoon character but I guess whatever works for you. When I win my millions soon I’ll have to fly over there and get you to give me the guided tour of some of those places like the Tower of London and Stonehenge. Oh and I am totally gonna rock those sideburns like the guy had in the cat video! I’ll be the envy of my neighborhood!
Dan: XD x 2
Guise: Ahhhh, I do loves me some folklore. I know this is much more recent (by comparison to some of the aforementioned beasties), but I was wondering about your knowledge on Spring-Heeled Jack. I’ve only heard the name, and I’m too lazy to Wiki it. XD
La Lllorna, the crying woman of Mexico (and, for some, southern California), is some of my own local folklore, along w/ our obligatory Hitchhiking Ghost (I think ours is in Alum Rock Park, near the observatory), but my personal favorite besides Happy Hollow’s Red Amy (Guise knows this one), is the legends of Hicks Road, a unpaved and lonely road that is haunted, among other things, by insane asylum spirits, dead albinos and a rock that has “gate to hell” written on it. Ah, if I had a camera and a good pair of hiking shoes, and of course a Glock….I’d be set to check that baby out.
I’m Dio and I’m a Ghost Junkie. “Hi Dio!” I’ll sit next to Mei. XD
DIo your not alone in your fascination with the supernatural. One of these days I intend to go to the Stanley Hotel and spend the night. I don’t know if you’ve seen Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi or not but they have caught several examples of hauntings there on top of it being the insoiration for The Shining. We have a park here in downtown Denver that used to be a cemetery but when they decided to make it a park they didn’t move the bodies only the headstones that is reputedly haunted. I’ve also gone on the hunt for a ghost that inhabits a cemetery up in the mountains and while I haven’t seen the actual ghost we did get a lot of pictures of what could be spirit orbs. So I guess what I’m trying to say Dio is that I’m a Ghost Junkie too.
I LOVE GHOST HUNTERS. My sister is obsessed w/ it (she records it every week XD). I recently just made my first ghost hunting foray a month or so ago. I’ll post it on my blog (or LJ, since I got one now) soon, since the only ppl who have read it are me, my bf, Guise, and my prof. *HIGH 5* Ghost junkies rule.
Guise: and now you see where Mei gets her enthusiasm. XD
Put me down for being a member of the Ghost Junky Club. We’ve got a great, old cemetary here in town and I’ve made up my mind I’m going to go out there with some recording equipment and try to capture some EVP’s. I’ve mentioned it to some friends and none of them are interested in joining me, so I think I’m going to go it alone. I’ve got no problem with that. Speaking of which, that gives me even more incentive to do something else I’ve been talking about doing for a long time, and that’s to FINALLY set up a blog on WordPress. I know I’ve been talking about it forever, but dangit, this time I mean it. I actually don’t know much about local ghost stories, although being that I live in the South, I’m sure there are loads of them. I do know of an abandoned asylum around here that’s reported to be haunted and I know people who have been inside of it and have seen all the abandoned tabels and equipment and everything. I gotta check that out, but that’s one that I won’t be doing by myself. There’s not much that scares me, but some stuff you just don’t mess around with. Speaking of EVP’s, here’s a really great site: http://www.ghostpix.com. I don’t know if it’s all real or not, but those are some of the creepiest EVP’s I’ve ever heard, especially the ones of the little kids.
Loved the post, Guise, especially the Will o’ The Wisp cartoon. My god, that chick had 2 faces! What the hell?! Good show on Dr. Who too. I’ve become a pretty big fan of that in the past year. I really miss Rose, but Martha’s a good replacement, and not too hard on the eyes either. We get that a big later than you guys, so I’m sure you already know what’s up with the new season. No spoilers!
Dan, well, I’ve actually been to Stonehenge, Avebury stones, Wookey Hole, Bodmin Moor, some of the old quarters of Bath and Bristol, and had a friend in school who lived in a house near a neolithic burial cave (a real one, open to experienced cavers) and two who lived near the churchyard (I once saw a big black dog in the churchyard, a growling, stubby legged fat doberman – but it wasn’t a ghost, just escaped someones backyard).
Our school also did May Day events with maypoles and morris dancing.
Dio, I purposefully avoided Spring Heeled Jack because I wanted to do a post about him later in the year, but I’ll likely whip something up just because you caught me out.
Yes, I have got a Halloween posts plan already. Yes, I have been quite vocal demanding my calendar moves forward.
Oh, and I did skip Mummers Plays and May Day traditions, fairy tales, Ley Lines, pagan rituals, Scottish selkies and a few other elements, but I may well return to cover them seperately. Definately May Day, because if I’m lucky I might go deeper in to rural Somerset to see an event if they have one.
As for LJ, that sent a shudder more than any ghost. The only reason I’m still there is for personal posts and I’m looking on transferring them over.
DJ D just on Doctor Who, I’m not sure how far through the season you are but the new season started here yesterday, after the recent season of Torchwood (James Marsters bringing the smexy) ended.
Also, on Wisp, I just want to express my deep love for anything Kenneth Williams does. A brilliant and funny man, tragic life.
Guise: No rush. ^^ I can wait. And the LJ is for keeping in touch with a very old friend.
Also: Ley Lines is capitalized and 2 words?
lol selkies. That’s a race in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (my favorite, personally). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Crystal_Chronicles
The females of the race are always the hot ones. XD
DJ D: Please be careful in doing work by yourself. Not only are you taking a risk supernatural-wise, but who’s gonna be the bait if you get caught trespassing? XD Seriously. At least try going in twos. Don’t worry your big sister Dio.
Sorry for the double post, but I took the weekend to fix my older entires and completely revamp my blog. So if you guys really want to know about my horrible writing skills, my blog’s the place to be. Its pic intensive from last Halloween though, just to warn.
Dio, good thing on the waiting. I actually set up an Outlook calendar to try and plan entries, how sad is that?
I’ve seen it written as ley lines, Ley Lines, leylines, Leylines and “funky power lines”, so I just picked the one that looked most impressive to me.
The females of ANY race usually are the hot ones, not just for Selkies!
As for the blog, niftiness, I’d already read through your Halloween entries a few times and to the guys and girls here I’d highly recommend them for a fun read! How very pink a site too! (Also, by the pic thingy, do you mean where it overlaps? If so, easiest thing is to go in to the template/CSS and look for a bit that says:
@media all {
#wrapper {
margin: 0 auto;
padding: 0;
border: 0;
width: 690px;
text-align: left;
background: #fff url(http://www.blogblog.com/moto_ms/innerwrap.gif) top right repeat-y;
font-size:90%;
}
or
@media all {
#main {
width: 400px;
float: left;
}
and you should just increase the “Width” in one of those)
Oh, and DJ D, don’t go in to the scary woods or asylum alone. You never know why you might need to outrun a friend to get away from a psycho axe-weilding, one-legged, acne-ridden, incontinent man-child offspring of rural animal lovers.
DJ D: See? Your big sister and brother are worried about you! XD
As for the blog, all that code is a bit over my head, but come Thursday, I’ll try to make the changes. I the future, I’ll be linking smaller images anyway, so I may not have to fiddle too much with it. Thanks for the info, however, I’d have never figured it out on my own. ^^;;
Dio, if I could, sweetie, I’d sort it for you. Alas, not.
I’ve been enjoying the older posts too, especially the multiple characters. Reminds me of the parts of brain debating whether or not to have coffee!
Guise, You’ve been to Stonehenge? Seriously? That’s aweome. I’ve explored catacaombs in Germany, walked on the shores of Whitby at the beach where, according to legend, Count Dracula’s shipped washed ashore, and been to the top of the Eifel Tower, but Stonehege is one I’ve never had the chance of doing. I’d love to check that out. I’d love to hear more of the UK legends, if anything for the education of it. Some of what you covered I was already familiar with, but some of it’s new to me and I’m really enjoying it. I’m particularly interested in leylines too (or however you want to spell it) ever since we talked about them in a geology class I took years ago.
Dio, Thanks for all the words of warning. It’s nice to know someone out there’s looking out for me. I promise when I decide to make a trip out there I’ll be really careful. Although, after reading some of the things I’ve been seeing here, I’m more creeped out than ever. Now I’ve got visions of me ending up in a cemetery surrounded by Old Man Stubbyfingers, the crazy, kicked dough-baby, screaming old-man-faced babies, and female Asian ghosts with giant grins. I don’t think I want to leave the house now. Not to mention, bispeckled English Bunnymen and quirky MexiPino chicks! Oh shit!
Oh, and on the blog front, I was trying to check out your old Halloween blogs, or any of your blogs in general and I wasn’t sure how to find them. I know this sounds like a stupid question, but when I clicked on your name all I got was your DA page. Great stuff there, by the way. I checked your “Journal” entry there, but didn’t find anything that was too long. When you guys talk about your blog, are you talking about a WordPress account, or am I just missing something? Speaking of WordPress accounts, I’ve got some ideas for what my first couple are going to be. Expect to see links to all that soon. Also, thanks for introducing me to Deviant Art. I wasn’t all that familiar with it before I started hanging out here. Lately I’ve got a renewed motivation to start churning out a lot more art and to start to get my stuff out there. My schedule’s more free these days to devote to it and I feel guilty for not having a pencil in my hand more in the past few years. I’ve really been neglecting the whole thing lately. But that’s all going to change soon.
Ah, DJ D, Guise has a handy sidebar for most of us on the right side of the page here. Its under the archives tab, under the Notable Folk heading. I’ve been linking my DA instead of my blog recently because 1) the blog was broke for a long time, and b) I wanted to expose the world to my version of Waiterbetty….XD I should link my blog on my DA too. Its shiny and pink. We’re all looking forward to your blog too!
On my end, the best scary place I’ve gone to is the Winchester Mystery House, but I didn’t really feel anything strange (I guess I’m not sensitive to the paranormal). Other n’ that, I tried Happy Hollow Zoo and Park; nothing happened, of course. *sigh
lol at dough-babies
Guise: Yeah, episode 4 is floundering right now, since I’m concurrently working on 5-7, which is actually the first multiple parter/major story arc. ^^;; I’m also running out of the short stuff so bear w/ me until the next few are done? I have one long story left that’s canonical, but not in the linear timeline. Its a summer story, so it might have to wait? XD
Dio, Oh yeah, of course. I’ve prolly looked at that sidebar thing a million times and never really paid attention to it. I just checked out your blog and it looks great. Cute Halloween pictures. Nice Mario Mushroom punkin. Yeah, I can’t wait to get going on the blogging. It’ll be a good excuse to finally get that new digital camera I’ve had my eyes on. Looking forward to checking out some of your stories.
DJ D, Stonehenge was interesting, especially because on the same week-long camp we went to Avebury stones and Longleat (safari park, house, Dr Who exhibit, hedge maze and more). The following year we camped in Pembrokeshire, Wales, where the stones actually came from, and visited an island of monks and a tomb on a hill.
I also stayed in a hotel, for work, that was right next to the remains of Nottingham Castle, there’s a pub under one end called Trip to Juresalem, which is actually built in to the rock bluff it’s built upon.
I have wanted to visit Whitby, but haven’t yet. Same as at some point I might visit London, I’ve so far skillfully avoided going near the place.
Eifel tower is nice, I loved the view from up there – I’ve been to Paris twice and have had a lot of fun there, once was with school to Parc Asterix and the other with College to Disneyland Paris. Everytime we’ve ended up having to park in the red light district to visit Sacre Couer.
I visited a very creepy gothic castle around Dusseldorf in Germany with one school, and visited some ruins of a castle with lots underground.
Also, really looking forward to your coming adventurers in Blogging and Deviances. Digital cameras are a bloody nuisance for me, even Duracell batteries get sucked up quick in mine.
Dio, mmm exposed…
See, just like a drug dealer, you get me hooked then bump up the price, or time, or something. I love those stories, but don’t rush anything, writing is better when natural! XD
Geez, Guise, you’re like some jet-setting, folklore playboy. XD I mean, Paris? Luckyyyyyyyy. I’d totally try the catacombs if I went to France.
On some digital cameras, you can just get the recharger so you don’t waste batteries. They’re a little more pricey, but I’ve found them to be extremely reliable. I myself own a Sony Cybershot (its got a slide cover that instantly turns it on when you slide it off the lens), and I’ll always love my Canon EOS, which is a traditional 35mm. But nothing beats my Holga sweetheart; the plastic lens and body that can allow light leaks, 120mm film and the wonderfully dreamy vingnette pictures you get. The film’s expensive to buy and develop but its worth it.
Well, I guess I could always host C&C on DA, but I tend to think that few people actually read text that’s posted in the galleries (they’re just there for the piccies), but I’ll consider it. I’m a more benevolent dealer than most web-comic artists; I actually encourage fanfiction, fanart, and smut. XD
http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/index.php
On another note, this comic is fucking sassy. There is nothing better than cute kitties and alcohol, except when you combine them together in an anthro-period piece. That’s when things get awesome. ^^
That’s why I envy you Guise, you have acess to all of these awesome historical places to visit. Me? I have a hotel I can’t afford and a graveyard park that’s the hang out for guys that would be more interested in checking me out rather than ghosts.
I need to get a new USB cable so I can upload some of the pictures I have. I’d love to get a really nice camera and wander off to take some pictures one of these days but I guess I had better get a job first.
I have some trick photography from school with “ghosts” in it. XD I’ll have to scan and upload them at some point. I know my own area has tons of ghosts but I don’t have the time, money or help to actually do some exploring.
The majority of interesting places has nearly always been because the school trips were in the area. One camp in a field in Devizes, Wiltshire; one camp near Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales; one stay in a hotel in Dusseldorf, Germany, with a school trip where we just happened to end up in creepy castle; one stay in hotel with school on the far outskirts of Paris, where we did a few day trips in to city; one stay in the Disneyland Paris park with a one day pass and day trips to city, with college. Then there were day trips with schools to places offering discounts! XD
Thing is, travel to France is fairly cheap from the UK, but still out of my price bracket.
Now, we all need to pool together to buy a Volkswagon van and travel with Dio’s dog around her local graveyards, so that she has some help and a getaway vehicle.
I call the trap-making! And the unmasking of the old guys in masks! Dibs!!
I think Guise went ghost hunting by himself, he’s been conspicuosly absent from here and the X-E forums. Either that or Old Man Stubbyfingers got him!
Heh, not quite, but I was job hunting and that seems to swallow up as much time. Also been cooking different attempts at decent food, trying to work out a way to update WordPress software without screwing things up (advanced warning of potential future issues), trying to decide what to do about personal LJ posts and setting them up elsewhere, writing my book (I’ve only got three planned chapters left) and lots of other niggling small stuff.
A decent update won’t be long away though!
No worries, as long as the creatures under the bed haven’t gotten you it’s all good. Just hadn’t heard from you and wanted to make sure all was well.
Ha! I’m doing ok, just made myself a deal not to post Drama Diaries on this site early on, so when wading through Drama Llama spit posts tend to be fewer.
Yeah, I’ve been wonder where you’ve been. I need to interview you. ^^ As for the drama, as long as you’re ok, it won’t matter what you post. When people go silent on the net, its worrisome. Glad to hear the books coming along fine.