The Faerie Folk - Folklore, Myths and Legends from the U.K

Join us as we welcome in the autumn season with a rather spooky episode of The Faerie Folk!

Learn all about the history of Halloween and how the festival we know and love came to be. Then travel to Shropshire to find out about the pilot who supposedly haunts the Arvo Lincoln plane in Cosford's RAF Museum - and finally discover the story behind the strange glowing phenomena known as the Will O' the Wisp.

There’s more myths and magic waiting for you over on social media too:

Twitter: twitter.com/thefaerie_folk Instagram: www.instagram.com/thefaerie_folk/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/thefaeriefolk/

The music featured in today's episode is 'Galway' by Kevin MacLeod Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3795-galway License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

*December 2020 Update*: Travel between United Kingdom locations is currently discouraged due to COVID-19 restrictions. The travel information provided in this podcast is designed as a guide for future travel plans once restrictions have eased. If you are planning on travelling, please check the information provided by local authorities beforehand and adhere to local guidelines once there. You can find more information here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Are you ready for another Faerie Folk adventure? Today's journey takes us to The North York Moors where we learn all about the household spirit known as a Hob, that might secretly help out with some of your day-to-day chores - but only if you stay on its good side. We also take a trip down to the beach, to discover the legend of the Skinningrove merman and find out whether the 'man from the sea' was all that he seemed.

There’s more myths and magic waiting for you over on social media too:

Twitter: twitter.com/thefaerie_folk

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thefaerie_folk/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thefaeriefolk/

Galway by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3795-galway

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

*December 2020 Update*: Travel between United Kingdom locations is currently discouraged due to COVID-19 restrictions. The travel information provided in this podcast is designed as a guide for future travel plans once restrictions have eased. If you are planning on travelling, please check the information provided by local authorities beforehand and adhere to local guidelines once there. You can find more information here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Today we're traveling to Somerset to discover more magical creatures and traditional folktales. Our virtual adventure first takes us up to the top of Glastonbury Tor to meet the Faerie King Gwynn Ap Nudd and learn all about his encounter with the abbot, St. Collen. And then we journey over to the village of Stanton Drew, famous for its many ancient standing stone circles. Are they the neolithic monuments of a forgotten time, or is there a more fantastical backstory to their origin?

There’s more myths and magic waiting for you over on social media too: Twitter: twitter.com/thefaerie_folk Instagram:

www.instagram.com/thefaerie_folk/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/thefaeriefolk/

Galway by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3795-galway

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

*This episode was recorded and released during the first UK 2020 Coronavirus lockdown.*December 2020 Update*: Travel between United Kingdom locations is currently discouraged due to COVID-19 restrictions. The travel information provided in this podcast is designed as a guide for future travel plans once restrictions have eased. If you are planning on travelling, please check the information provided by local authorities beforehand and adhere to local guidelines once there. You can find more information here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

This week we’re traveling into the city to discover more of the United Kingdom’s most fascinating myths and legends. London is full of great ghost stories and frightening folklore - but just who was William Terriss and why does his ghost haunt the Adelphi Theatre? And did a vampire really stalk the grounds of Highgate cemetery in the 1970s? Join us for another magical tour and you might just find out!

There’s more myths and magic waiting for you over on social media too:

Twitter: twitter.com/thefaerie_folk

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thefaerie_folk/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thefaeriefolk/

Galway by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3795-galway

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

*December 2020 Update*: Travel between United Kingdom locations is currently discouraged due to COVID-19 restrictions. The travel information provided in this podcast is designed as a guide for future travel plans once restrictions have eased. If you are planning on travelling, please check the information provided by local authorities beforehand and adhere to local guidelines once there. You can find more information here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Welcome to 'Folktales of the Sea' The Faerie Folk's very first storytelling collection, featuring a selection of my favourite folktales from across the podcast, all connected by their oceanic settings.

I will introduce each of today’s stories by their title and place of origin, including the version of the story I’ve based mine on, but without the usual history section of the podcast, so you will be able to enjoy today’s tales as background listening to help you drift off to sleep, study, or just to keep you company on a cosy evening!

I’ve also included one brand new folktale in today’s compilation that I’ve not told on the podcast before, so make sure to stay to the end to hear the Scottish legend, The Mermaid of Dunnet Bay.

I’m currently on a mission to revisit some of the older episodes of the podcast, as I’d like to bring their quality up to the same standard as my later episodes, so I hope this storytelling session can help tide you over whilst I work on those. And you will be getting a sneak preview of some of the updates that I’m making in today’s episode, as I share brand new versions of The Mermaid of Zennor and many of your other favourite folktales, with updated sound quality, music and effects.

So then friends, I think it is time for us to travel to the sea...

The main music featured in today's episode is: Galway by Kevin MacLeod Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3795-galway License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Mermaid of Zennor

From Zennor in Cornwall, England.

Based on the version in Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall

by William Bottrrell, published in 1873.

From the episode 'The Mystical Mermaids of Cornwall'.

Music

Galatic Battles / Bonnie Grace / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Once in a Life / Howard Harper-Barnes / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

The Mermaid of Padstow

From Padstow in Cornwall, England

Based on the version in North Cornwall Fairies and Legends

by Enys Tregarthen published in 1906.

From the episode 'The Mystical Mermaids of Cornwall'.

Music

Highland Hymn/ Bonnie Grace / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Sphinx / David Celeste / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Restless Pacific / Jon Björk / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Streching the Minutes / Jon Björk / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Wherever I Wander (Edit) / Bonnie Grace / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

The Seal Catcher’s Adventure

From John O’Groats, in Caithness, Scotland.

Based on the version by William Grant Stewart in The Popular Superstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland, published in 1823.

Adapted from the episode 'Scotland's Shapeshifting Seals and Fantastical Faeries'.

Music The Road Less Travelled / Gabriel Lewis / courtesy of Epidemic Sound Greyish Regret / Charles Holme / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

The Last of Our Kind (Edit) / Jon Björk / courtesy of Epidemic Sound A King's Ransom / Bonnie Grace / courtesy of Epidemic Sound The Norman Kings / Bonnie Grace / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

The Skinningrove Merman

From Skinningrove in North Yorkshire, England

Based on John Grave’s account in 1808’s ‘The History of Cleveland in the North Riding of the

County of York’ and Folk Tales From The North York Moors by Peter N. Walker, published in 1990.

From the episode 'The Helpful Hob and Mysterious Merman of the North York Moors'.

Music

Ivory Tower / Philip Ayers / courtesy of Epidemic Sound Where The Thistle Grows / Bonnie Grace / courtesy of Epidemic Sound The Protagonist / Howard Harper-Barnes / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

The Mermaid of Dunnet Bay

From Dunnet Bay in The Scottish Highlands.

Based on the version in ‘Sketch of the Civil and Traditional History of Caithness’, by James T Calder with historical notes by Thomas Sinclair, published in 1887.

Music

A Call From the Wild / Rune Dale / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

May You Have / Bonnie Grace / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Celtics in Disguise (Edit) / Trabant 33 / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Moon Child / Bonnie Grace / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Forsaken Wayfarer / Jon Björk / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Solemn / Bonnie Grace / courtesy of Epidemic Sound

Across Rocky Plains / Jon Björk / courtesy of Epidemic Sound