Dunstanburgh Castle

Dunstanburgh Castle is now a ruined castle situated on a remote headland in Northumberland.  It is associated with many myths and legends and a spooky folktale concerning a good knight who becomes caught up in an endless search for a beautiful woman he once found asleep on a crystal plinth deep within the castle.

According to the legend, in the days when knights were virtuous and chivalrous there was a good knight named Sir Guy.  One evening he happened to be traveling nearby and as the sun was going down a storm began to brew in the darkening sky.  On hearing the rumble of thunder and as the rain began falling in torrents he looked around for shelter.  In the distance, he saw the jagged ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle black against the sky and decide to seek shelter there.

As he approached the ruins he realized they stood on a high cliff with their backs to the sea but could not see a path that led up to it.   With no way up and the rain lashing down he looked around for alternative shelter and found a cave.  He entered and took off his sodden cloak and jacket.  Inside it was dark and as his eyes grew accustomed he saw a softly glimmering light floating slowly towards him from down a passageway.  As the light came nearer it changed its appearance to form the terrifying figure of an ugly old warlock. “Follow if you dare ad you will find beauty beyond belief!,” 

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Petrification Myths
There are many petrification myths where people, or living things, are turned to stone for various reasons.  In legend and folklore this often occurs through the action of some powerful individual such as witches by sorcery, or by saints calling upon God, or by some other form of divine intervention when rules have been transgressed.  In the examples that follow it is divine intervention called down by St Hilda and St Keyne that turn snakes into stone to end their infestation of religious sites. The proof of these miraculous events was seen in the existence of what appears to look like petrified snakes coiled up and found naturally in certain places such as Whitby in Yorkshire that was associated with St. Hilda and Keynsham in Somerset, associated with St. Keyne.   In fact these stone snakes were not snakes at all but fossils known as ammonites.  Presented here is a brief description of ammonites followed by the legends of how Saint Hilda and Saint Keyne cleared their respective religious sites of snakes by turning them to stone.

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Five Fabled Islands

Hy-Brasil, Buyan, Saint Brendan’s Isle, the Island of Antillia, and the Isle of Avalon are five fabled islands that were once believed to have existed by many people through the ages.  All had their own magical qualities and characteristics that were given to them by the human culture they appeared in.  Presented here is a brief introduction to these five fabled islands before concluding with a few ideas on their possible significance for the reader to think about.

Hy-Brasil and the Court of King Breasa

lIn Irish mythology and folklore, Hy-Brasil was the island where the legendary Breasal, the High King of the World held his court.  It was said to be situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Ireland and was a kind of island paradise where all good things were bountiful and people lived in peace and happiness.  All who dwelt there were bestowed with the gift of immortality.

Hy-Brasil was a difficult place to find because the island was said to be shrouded in mist. It could only be seen once every seven years when the mist lifted which was the time when Breasal held his court on the island.  It was during these brief times when the island was visible that the court was believed to be in session. Although the island could be seen at such times, it could not be reached and King Breasal was said to have the  power to make the island sink below the waves or rise above them at his command.

Hy-Brasil was a phantom island and actually appeared on nautical maps as far back as 1325,  when it was shown on the Dalorto Chart created by an Italian-Majorcan cartographer, Angelino Dulcert.   There are many other examples of phantom islands that appear on ancient maps but cannot be found and are later removed from new versions. Some are mythical such as Antillia and Saint Brendan’s Isle, while others may once have existed but disappeared beneath the waves in volcanic, or geological action, or perhaps covered by rising sea levels.  Some such as Crockerland were hoaxes or based on a kind of mirage known as Fata Morgana, while others were navigational errors.  Many explorers sought for Hy-Brasil and while a few claimed to have found it no evidence was ever brought back confirming the existence of King Breasal and his island and it was eventually removed from maps.
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This article was orignally published on #FolkloreThursday as Cornish Smugglers: Cruel Coppinger, on  February 16th 2016,  by zteve t evans

Cruel Coppinger

One of the most extraordinary and fearsome figures in Cornish folklore and legend was Cruel Coppinger.  He is thought to have been a real person who attained extreme notoriety through his brutal, criminal behaviour and leadership of a ruthless band of smugglers and pirates, becoming a legend in his own lifetime.

Shipwreck.
According to Cornish legend, Coppinger was the victim of a shipwreck when a massive storm wrecked his ship off the Cornish coast. As was the practice the local people gathered at the shore to see what they could claim when the storm died down. They watched the doomed vessel sinking and the lightning flashes revealed the dark figure of a huge man leaping from the ship and striding through the wild waves to the shore.  On reaching the shore, he roughly shoved an old woman to the ground and stole her cloak. He then leapt on the back of a horse a young woman had ridden down to the shore. With her still sat on the horse and him behind her shouting furiously in some unknown language, the terrified steed fled and made its way back to its home with them both on its back.
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Frideswide

Frideswide was the daughter of Didan the king of Lower Mercia and Selfrida, his wife.  She lived in the middle of the 7th century and was born in the royal palace in Oxford.  She was brought up at what is now called Didcot which belonged to her father and was named after him.  Frideswide was known as Fritha to her family and friends and placed under the guidance of a holy woman named Elgitha, or Algiva, who was her governess.  Elgitha came to have a tremendous influence on Frideswide teaching her that, “Whatever is not God is nothing”.  So it was that she grew up in a spiritual environment and was a very quick and enthusiastic student, especially with her Christian studies.

When her mother died she moved back to Oxford to be with her father and managed to persuade him to give her a substantial plot of land to build a church on which was situated at the city gates.  Along with twelve companions, she took the holy vows and her father built a convent next to the church for them.   Although they were bound by rules of chastity and seclusion they were not bound by the rules of the cloister which was consecrated by Edgar the bishop of the diocese and her father gave generous lands and farms to the convent and church.

Frideswide and the Devil

Frideswide was a very beautiful young woman.  Word of her beauty spread far and wide and as a royal princess, she would come with a rich dowry.   Consequently, she was seen as was a highly desirable prize by neighboring princes and royals and had many suitors.  Nevertheless, Frideswide was dedicated to her faith and had no wish for marriage, instead she intended to devote herself to God and Jesus.  According to legend, Satan was jealous of the peace she found in her life and was jealous of the rewards she would surely be given in the afterlife for her devotion and good works.
Although he knew she would never directly be tempted by him and what he had to offer he tried to deceive her by devious means.  He caused her to have a dream where he visited her in the guise of Jesus urging her to follow him.  Frideswide saw straight through the deception and called upon her Lord who drove him from her presence.

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The sea and the rugged Cornish coastline dotted with fishing villages and harbors is a fertile breeding ground of many legends and traditions.  For many of the Cornish folk living around the coast, the sea provided them with a means to make a living by fishing.  As well as selling their catch for small profits it was the basic ingredient of their diet.  To catch the fish they needed suitable weather so their livelihoods were inextricably linked to the sea and the weather.

Stormy Weather
Tom Bawcock was a legendary fisherman in the 16th century who lived in the Cornish fishing village of Mousehole. Like many other local people, he made his living from fishing the seas around Cornwall.  According to legend during one wintertime the area was afflicted by a series of storms and bad weather which prevented the local fishermen from putting out to sea.  This is said to have happened around Christmas time and the fishing boats remained stationary in the harbor. This bad weather continued over a prolonged period and the local people could not catch the fish that consisted of their main diet and began to starve.

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There are many legends and folktales from around the world that tell of sunken bells that have either been sunk in the sea or in a lake inland.  This folktale comes from Boscastle, Cornwall in England, which is a fishing village and harbor and part of the civil parish of Forrabury and Minster and tells how the bells of Forrabury Church were lost to the sea. According to the legend there was once a degree of rivalry between the church of Forrabury and the nearby church of Tintagel whose bells were said to have pealed merrily at the marriage of King Arthur and most solemnly when he died.

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Sir Reginald
There was once a bold  and loyal knight named Sir Reginald who had fought bravely and ferociously for King Henry V and distinguished himself at the Battle of Agincourt.  It is said he always fought hard, asking for no quarter and gave none in return.  His pennant could be seen fluttering wherever the fighting was the hardest and the fiercest.   His deeds upon the battlefield were held in high esteem and he was a man of good and impeccable character, a stalwart friend, and a fierce enemy.   Indeed, he may well be seen as a good and honest knight and the best of his order,  yet he had a flaw in his character that was often troublesome.  You see, he had a terrible quick temper which when things were not going his way would come to the fore leading him to make rash decisions he would later regret.  Then, he was prone to sulking alone and brooding upon what might have been.  Still, despite these faults, he was always a man of his word, even though it may have been too hastily given.

The Fair Lady Isabel

In a cottage quite near to Redesmere, there lived a very fair and beautiful lady whose name was Isabel.  For Sir Reginald, she was as lovely as sunlight and as mysterious as moonlight.  Indeed, all who knew her agreed her sweet and good-natured mien was a delight to behold.  Sadly, she lived a solitary life in virtual social isolation, her family and friends strangely absent.   Alas, for poor Sir Reginald for his heart was quite taken by her and he dreamed of marriage to her one day. Now there was a mystery as to why the fair Isabel lived alone in poverty in a humble cottage when she had been born of a noble line and was, in fact, the heiress of vast and valuable estates. 

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Bomere Pool

Bomere Pool is situated in the English county of Shropshire about 4.7 miles (7.5 km) south of Shrewsbury between Condover and Bayston Hill.  The pool has several legends attached to it and presented here is a version of a tale that tells how a monster fish acquired the sword of Wild Eadric, an Anglo-Saxon war leader who had fought against the Norman Conquest of Britain.

The Fish and the Sword

The story tells how the squire of Condover was out with his friends in a boat on Bomere   Pool enjoying a day of fishing.  One of them hooked an enormous fish and it took the help of all of the party to pull it into the boat.  The squire and his friends were astounded by the sheer size of the fish and a heated discussion arose concerning the girth of the monster.  A wager was then placed betting that the fish was bigger around the waist than the squire.  In a bid to compare the diameter of the fish to himself the squire took off his belt and with a lot of squeezing managed to fasten it around the girth of the fish.

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