Folklore, Myths And Legends Of Britain

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Edwards, Eric W (2014), ‘The Goddess Coventina of Northumbria’, Eric Edwards Collected Works, https://ericwedwards.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/the-goddess-coventina-of-northumbria/. Woodcut published in The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells Of England, including Rivers, Lakes, Fountains and Springs. Copiously Illustrated By Curious Original Woodcuts. by Robert Charles Hope, F.S.A., F.R.S.L., in 1893 [Public Domain] Observations on popular antiquities, chiefly illustrating the origin of our vulgar customs, ceremonies & super Rivers enable industry and trade – the growth of Newcastle upon Tyne depended on the export of coal along the Tyne. Our shipbuilding made us an industrial powerhouse. Many other rivers boast similar tales of might or glory.And rivers act like highways across the land. Chap-books and Folk-lore Tracts, 1st ser., v 3: Mother Bunch's closet newly broke open, & the History of Mother Bunch of the west. [Villon

Gilt bronze head from the cult statue of Sulis Minerva from the Temple at Bath, found in Stall Street in 1727 and now displayed at the Roman Baths (Bath). By Hchc2009 [ CC BY-SA 4.0] Notices of fugitive tracts: And chap-books printed at Aldermary churchyard, Bow churchyard, etc. [Percy Society] He further notes that the 19th-century historian Joseph Hunter thought the rhyme may have referred to sacrifices made to the water gods (2012). Clarke explains that the ancients considered rivers to be female, and he notes the belief that the Don was named for Danu, a Celtic mother goddess (2017). Dartmoor Tim Sandles makes the point that the River Dart can end up swollen, and if it coincides with a north westerly wind, the river seems to cry. People think the river spirit cries when it claims its annual life (2016). Given the fact that the river is at its most dangerous when it’s in full force, you can see why people might attribute that to a vengeful spirit.

The result was an alternative version of both received history and expected futures; an outlook that insisted on questioning the national story and offered an alternate identity to the coming generation. (The folk horror of the ‘70s, in which traditions became threats and hedge-row spirits became devils, was largely a regressive, religious response to this movement.) It offered a different idea of Britain. Different to the modern world of hovercraft and computers, or the stifling establishment of gentlemen’s clubs and the W.I. British ley lines instead of British Leyland. A place of shadowed, high-hedged and twisting lanes, of half-remembered gods and drowned and forgotten lands. It gave us a sense of place, and a sense of enchantment in that place. It made our country magic. Scotland also has the shellycoat, a creature that wears a coat of shells. They haunt rivers and streams, and most think they’re mischievous rather than malicious. They might throw their voice as the cry of a drowning person. And we’ve talked before about both kelpies and the Bean Nighe, both supernatural creatures you might encounter along Scottish waterways.

Full of maps with icons for things like ‘Drowned or Lost Lands’, ‘Mysterious Stones’ or ‘Bells’, the book portrays a Britain that is full of strangeness and mystery: strangeness and mystery that is happening all around you. Chap-books and Folk-lore Tracts, 1st ser., v 2: The history of the seven wise masters of Rome [Villon Society] Observations on popular antiquities, [v1] chiefly illustrating the origin of our vulgar customs, ceremonies &Folk and Hero Tales [bibliog. refs.; Waifs & Strays of Celtic Tradition, Argyllshire Ser. 111; intro Alfred N Deyts, Simone-Antoinette (1971), ‘The Sacred Source of the Seine’, Scientific American, 225:1, pp. 65-73. Romanbaths.co.uk (2014), ‘UNESCO Memory of the World’, Romanbaths.co.uk, https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/news/unesco-memory-world. Clarke, David (2012), ‘Dark River and Sheffield Spooks’, Dr David Clarke, https://drdavidclarke.co.uk/2012/10/11/dark-river-and-sheffield-spooks/. Of course, it’s not just spirits that live in rivers. Other lore surrounds the waters that could sustain a community or steal away life.