I’ve been thinking recently about the shift in genre that my ideas and writing have undergone. Spending so much time at Willow Cottage has probably had a very large influence on me, for my most recent ideas are all coloured, lightly or unmistakably, with the light fantasy of folk-tales. There’s ‘Ogle and Creake‘, which I finished last night, and there’s notes for a story about a lumberjack (who’s a very good listener) and more for gardener who has rather more than a green thumb. I’m enjoying this theme, and I hope it continues long enough to form a collection of short stories.
It’s also gotten me thinking about the stories I read and loved as a child: Robin Hood (of course); King Arthur; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – which was oddly terrifying for a children’s story; Jason & the Argonauts… The list goes on, I’m sure, but those are off the top of my head.
The books I had for Robin Hood and King Arthur (which I think included the story about Gawain’s and the Green Knight) were lovely illustrated books in a style that felt more for grown-ups than children. I’m sure they wouldn’t seem that way now, but hey, I was nine. They were scary and had scary pictures. Therefore, they were cool. I think I miss the excitement of a simple scary tale, set in a real world but that was tinged with fantasy, and that could be read alone or in groups, by a fire, with a flagon of ale. The kind of stories that remain unchanged and adored for generations, passed down by word of mouth or family books.
So I have a question: what were your favourite faerytales as a child? Which fables gave you shivers on Halloween, which myths and legends did you in awe ask to hear again and again? I would really like to hear about your favourites, and I’m sure it’ll bring up some fond memories for you, too!
As I child I mainly read Roald Dahl books. I also loved Alice in Wonderland; to me it was the place of ultimate make believe and the Queen of Hearts terrified me.
As for myths and legends I used to get told these by adults. I grew up in an Irish members club so was always wondering around listening to stories they would tell me (or pretend to be asleep on a chair near them to hear one they would think too scary for me (they were right of course)). I would hear tales of the Banshee, of fairy mounds and would listen to the warnings of not crossing a field in the month of August (I think it was August…). I often heard the tales of Holy Statues crying and of their lips moving. Will-o-the-wisp and Jack the lantern were other ones i remember.
I still read up on Myths and Legends today… can’t get enough of old tales
Thanks for replying Littleskew! Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I also read a few of the Roald Dahl books, but not as many as my sisters! I think I also must have read (or seen) Alice in Wonderland, but again, that was more the realm of my older sisters than myself. I remember very strongly a story by Rudyard Kipling, ‘How the elephant got his trunk’. Wonderful illustrations, and an excellent story for a child.
As for myths and legends, it sounds like you had a very beneficial situation going on! I know about the Will-o-the-wisp and the banshee (well, I know what the banshee is, but haven’t heard any specific stories), but the others are beyond me! Would you mind explaining a little bit further? I did have a few ghost stories told to me by my father, but it sounds like you were surrounded by a wealth of myths and legends!
Wow, where to start. Well the banshee, as you know, is a fairy who howls/wails/cries. She is said to warn of a death in the family (only certain irish families according to legend, ones with the O’ or Mc surnames). I heard a few people in the club claiming to have heard a distant wail and swearing it to be the banshee. I have a cousin who swears to it too. One night whilst at home he heard a strange noise, like a howling but also like a baby crying, it sounded like it was coming from outside; he had a look but couldn’t see anything. The noise carried on. The next day he heard that a neighbour had died. He swears it was the banshee.
Jack-the-Lantern comes from the tale Stingy Jack (which is the tale behind the Jack-O’-Lantern), he roams the lands between good and evil (too bad to get into Heaven and not allowed into hell after tricking the devil into never taking his Soul) with only an ember inside a hollowed out turnip guiding him. Whenever we were driving or walking in Ireland late at night I would try not to look out for a light in the distance but always found myself searching the hills for a light moving around.
The stories of Statues moving in ireland was one of the main ones I would hear. A lady once told me about a group of children who were playing near a Church, they told everyone how a Statue of Mary had called them over to her and gave them a message (I can’t remember what this was). People then went to the Church (and other Churches) to see if they would see the Statues move; the lady said she saw a Statue praying and later that day her sister told her she saw it too. It was pretty big in Ireland for a while.
As for crossing the fields in August, I have trouble remembering this but I think it had something to do with the harvest and that the fairies were out; if you were caught by a fairy they would bring you to their world where you would have to stay forever; some say they make you dance for them forever (many tales vary).
I would get told stories also by gentlemen who swore they nearly caught a Leprechaun ‘he tricked me into looking away; I was that close to the gold’.
Cornwall is full of folktales and legends too, one being the bells that ring beneath the waves near Boscastle. The Lord of Botteraux Castle ordered 3 bells to ward off the plague but the bells never made it to the Church or land as the ship carrying them sunk just off shore. Apparently when a storm hits off shore the bells can be heard ringing beneath the waves.
Amongst the legends and folk stories you would also get the ghost stories; there was a field near my aunts in Ireland where at night a sliotar (which is a small hurling ball) would be thrown out at you (not to hit you, it would land at your feet), the fields were black, no street lights and no houses near by, you wouldn’t see anyone… because there was no one there. They never said why but you weren’t to ignore the sliotar, you had to throw it back in and then be on your way.
I hope this is kind of what you were looking for… and also that I didn’t take up too much space rambling on
Thank you for such detailed explanations! Such rich imagination in these old stories and mythical creatures. I did know of the banshee as a kind of wraith or spirit that howled, but I hadn’t known it was said to be a forewarning of death? Thanks for the heads up from the youngest (myself) of clan McGuire! As for the Jack-the-Lantern, it seems like this story is perhaps similar to those concerning the entrapments of the will-o’-the-wisp? After a brief google, it seems like they are two names for the same spooky phenomenon. I remember reading a story about a will-o’-the-wisp that led people into a bog and left them once they were stuck… Delightful!
That story you mentioned about the bells below the ocean near Boscastle sounds extremely exciting and quite eerie, I’m definitely going to look into that one! Thank you!
Interesting story about the sliotar… Was it a long-standing tradition, was there a story behind it? Even if not, and it was just your aunt being a bit of a secret prankster, that’s still quite entertaining!
Again, thank you for the very thorough explanations of those stories, wonderful to read about
. Don’t worry about space, I think we’re putting it to good use!
I think I have heard that story of will-o’-the-wisp leading people to bogs; not very nice, they are awful to get stuck in, my cousin lost a shoe once in one of those.
Yeah I think that the two are the same just people call them by different names. I often heard will-o’-the-wisp before I heard the story so obviously as a child my imagination created something for me to be scared of; in my head will-o’-the-wisp was a ghostly thing you couldn’t see, you only knew he was near when a wind came and made the leaves swirl… I don’t know why I thought of ‘him’ as a swirling gust of wind. I still think of that whenever I see leaves or bags/rubbish swirl
Cornwall is rich in legends and myths; here are a couple of sites to look at
http://www.connexions.co.uk/culture/
http://www.cornwall-calling.co.uk/folklore.htm
With the sliotar I’m not sure if it was something that was retold by the villagers or if there is a story behind it; I just got told the story one night and still get a little freaked out walking past a field anywhere… good prank if it was one
Also, I’m not sure where I stand with the Banshee legend as originally there was an O’ in front of my surname but over time it has been lost…
Glad you enjoyed my response; I really enjoyed posting it, mythical stories and legends are definitely my thing