Folklore of British Caves: Treasure, Cannibals, and Brownies

There is something deeply primordial about caves, these strange spaces that allow us to move inside the earth. It’s hardly surprising that they’re often considered the entrance to the underworld, or that they become places to hide things. Caves are understandably replete with stories of treasure, lost graves, and hidden booty.

Earlier in the week, I asked people what their favourite cave-based stories were, so I’ve chosen some legends in this post based on the answers. Sawney Bean was weirdly popular!

The stories assembled here tell tales of people on the run, seeking shelter, burying treasure, and yes, brownies. One story even explores the popular notion in English folklore that the intervention of the Devil can explain the topography of an area.

I’m not including manmade caverns, which rules out the likes of Chislehurst Caves and the Hellfire Caves – though we’ll no doubt come back to them for a future post. And by dint of the fact I’m in the British Isles, I am prioritising caves in England and Scotland.

But for now, settle in, and let’s explore some of the legends associated with British caves…

Sawney Bean, Ayrshire

One of the stories most often mentioned in the ‘cave story’ discussion on Twitter was that of Sawney Bean. A cave is indeed central to the legend, so it bears exploration. A man named Alexander Bean was born in East Lothian either in the 15th or 16th century. After discovering a life of honest work didn’t suit him, he formed a relationship with Black Agnes Douglas. They took to a life of crime, based in Bennane Cave in Ayrshire. It was apparently 200 m in length, but more importantly, it was cut off at high tide, and they lived there undisturbed for 25 years.

The pair had 14 children and 32 grandchildren, many of the latter being produced through incest between their children (Johnson n.d.). They supported their vast family by robbing, murdering and cannibalising passersby. Locals were aware of a huge number of people going missing, but for years, the Bean family avoided capture since no one believed anyone could live in the cave.

Eventually, they tried to attack a married couple riding home from a fair. The husband held the clan at bay by riding his horse into the clan, though they killed his wife. A group of fair-goers appeared and since they outnumbered the Beans, the cannibal family fled. The husband told the local magistrate what had happened (in some stories, this was the Chief Magistrate of Glasgow [Johnson n.d.]).

The Law Draws Near

Finally, the King found out and ordered a thorough search by four hundred men. Some suggest this James VI of Scotland himself led the search party, though Dr Louise Yeoman notes if this were the case, he would have mentioned it himself on more than one occasion (Brocklehurst 2013). Bloodhounds discovered the cave, and two different legends exist as to what happened.

In one version, the search party captured the family alive in their cave, surrounded by human body parts and their ill-gotten gains from their victims (Johnson n.d.). The family was apparently executed without trial. In the other version, the search party laced the entrance of the cave with gunpowder and let them suffocate inside after blasting the cave closed.

There is some debate as to whether it really happened or not – Dr Yeoman points out the stories only emerge over 100 years after the events supposedly took place (Brocklehurst 2013). The fact no one can agree when it took place does make it suspicious. Others think that there may have been a combination of stories rolled together to create the legend.

Dr Yeoman also points out that the books that told the story appeared in England, not Scotland, during a period of prejudice against the Scots. This helps to explain the name ‘Sawney’, used as shorthand for the stereotype of a barbaric Scot (Brocklehurst 2013). The whole story could have been an example of propaganda, rather than an actual legend.

King’s Cave, Arran

This story proved popular on Twitter, so I’m including it here. There’s a natural cave known as the King’s Cave on the west coast of Arran. According to legend, after Robert the Bruce’s first year as the King of the Scots went badly, he took refuge in the cave.

Throughout the winter of 1306, he watched a spider repeatedly try to spin a web in the cave. It didn’t give up, always trying again when it fell off the wall. This inspired Bruce to renew his efforts, and he later beat the English at Bannockburn in 1314.

Iain M. Rose points out there’s no clear evidence Bruce spent time in the cave (BBC 2014). That said, he did end up continually on the move after his defeat, so it’s possible he hid here. The story was originally written about Sir James Douglas, and the link with Bruce came later. Dr Louise Yeoman points out that he apparently hid with Christina MacRuairi, and she gave him men and ships to try again. So we should probably credit her influence rather than the spider (BBC 2014).

Cuddy’s Cave, Northumberland

Two different caves in Northumberland lay claim to an association with St Cuthbert, the legendary 7th-century monk. The cave is sometimes known as Cuddy’s Cave (Cuddy being what Northumbrians called Cuthbert).

According to legend, the Lindisfarne monks carried St Cuthbert’s body away from the remote island in AD 875 when the Danes laid waste to Lindisfarne. They actually wandered the region for seven years to guard Cuthbert’s remains. They apparently rested at Cuddy’s Cave as they roamed. Other legends say the saint himself used to stay here when he was Bishop of Lindisfarne and toured the diocese (Westwood 2006: 553).

One contender for Cuddy’s Cave can be found in the Kyloe Hills between Lowick and Belford. It’s in the woods, and a rocky outcrop forms the natural cave which offers shelter for a few people. The Leather family from Middleton Hall also used the cave as a graveyard, so the land is consecrated too. Memorials still exist on the rocks near the cave. While there’s no direct evidence to prove this is Cuddy’s Cave, the amount of space would suggest it could have been used to shelter a group of monks.

In 2021, the National Trust had to close the Belford cave after someone tagged it with white spray paint, and a fire damaged the sandstone wall.

The second cave lies on Doddington Moor near Wooler. It’s small, having been enlarged at some point, though the Neolithic cup and ring markings recorded there in 1865 have disappeared. It’s possible this cave was too small for use by the monks.

Peak Cavern, Derbyshire

You can find Peak Cavern, or Peak’s Hole, at Castleton in Derbyshire. It’s also known as the Devil’s Arse.

One famous tale takes place on a cold winter’s day. A swineherd working for William Peveril, the owner of nearby Peveril Castle, went looking for a missing sow who was about to give birth. He assumed she must have wandered into the cave, and despite his trepidation about venturing inside such a cursed place, he also feared his master’s wrath if he lost a valuable sow. So he bravely stepped inside.

He followed it as far as he could until he noticed daylight in front of him. He hadn’t turned around, so it could only mean there was another cave mouth on the other side. He came out in a field where reapers brought in the harvest. The sow and her piglets lay under a tree. He took them back through the cave and came back out into the Derbyshire winter.

Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson liken the story to that of the Green Children of Woolpit from Suffolk. Indeed, The Loremen cover the Devil’s Arse in their podcast episode about the Green Children of Woolpit, so you can find out more from them here!

But the common point is the idea of access points to the Otherworld, seen as somewhat idyllic, though that seems to contradict the terrifying reputation of the Devil’s Arse. It was often considered the entrance to Hell, with the howling of the wind thought to be souls screaming in torment (Westwood 2006: 172). Perhaps the sound was a natural one, misunderstood by those who heard it? Or perhaps the inhabitants of the cave made the sound to keep humans away from the Otherworld…

Crocket’s Hole, Gloucestershire

There’s a cave outside Newent known as Crocket’s Hole. You’ll find it near the top of May Hill. Its name dates to the reign of Mary Tudor. A Protestant named Crocket used to go there with his friend to pray. His friend was arrested for not attending Mass and eventually burnt as a heretic in Priory House’s courtyard. No one knows what happened to Crocket, though it’s interesting that the cave is named after him, and not his martyred friend (Westwood 2006: 291).

Other legends spoke of treasure hidden in the cave, though no one has ever found any. Or have they? Apparently, an elderly woman told researcher G. H. Piper in 1884 that she played in the cave as a child, and her grandfathers claimed to have seen the treasure. Apparently, it lay in a tunnel on the other side of a stream. They accidentally dropped their candle in the water, and such was their difficulty in getting out of the cave in the dark that they never tried to find the treasure again (Westwood 2006: 291).

Cheddar Gorge, Somerset

There was a legend that the Mendip Hills once had a smooth profile. The Devil decided to ruin them and gouged out a deep chasm that we now know as Cheddar Gorge. This legend also goes on to explain that local landmarks, such as Brent Knoll and the Flat Holm and Steep Holm islands, came from the soil he dug up to make the gorge (Cope 2003).

There’s a fun legend associated with Cheddar Gorge to explain where the cheese comes from. A milkmaid apparently left a bucket of milk on one of the caves to keep it cool. She forgot about it, and when she finally remembered to fetch it, it had turned into cheese – the first Cheddar (Crampton 2022)!

Locals discovered the Cheddar Man in Gough’s Cave in the gorge in 1903 when they were working on the drainage. This male skeleton is roughly 10,000 years old, placing him in the Mesolithic era. Scientists studied his DNA and in 2018, announced he had dark skin and blue eyes – not the light skin usually assumed before then (Crampton 2022).

Wookey Hole lies some six miles southeast of Cheddar Gorge, and you can learn more about the Witch of Wookey Hole here!

Peak District Caves

Of course, caves could provide shelter to Otherworldly creatures as much as humans, and these dark holes were welcome homes. In the Peak District, one cave known as Hob’s House in the Wye Valley had an unusual inhabitant. The name ‘Hob Thirst’, translated to ‘giant’s house’, and in the 19th century, one story abounded that a giant-sized being lived there.

The locals called him ‘Hob’, and he went up and down the valleys, thrashing their corn and doing odd jobs around their homes. No one ever saw or heard him in action, but they left a bowl of cream on the hearth as ‘payment’ for his services (Clarke 1991: 36). In a good mood, Hob made life go smoothly around the farm. If someone annoyed him, the milk would sour, crockery got smashed, and the cows’ milk dried up (Clarke 1991: 37).

This sounds a lot like a brownie, and indeed the name ‘Hob Hirst’ can also refer to a fairy or an elf. The bowl of cream is left where it will be found, rather than being handed over directly, so it doesn’t insult him.

A cave in Deepdale near Buxton was also called Thirst House Cave, as far back as 1417. People believed a goblin lived in the cave, and they used the nearby spring for its healing properties. If you drank from this spring on the morning of Good Friday, it would cure all your complaints (Clarke 1991: 37).

Thor’s Cave lies in northern Staffordshire near the village of Wetton, and locals believed fairies haunted the cave. This, they believed, explained the screeching heard in the cave (Clarke 1991: 37). I think it’s notable that human remains from the prehistoric and Roman eras have been found in such caves since some linked Hob Hirst with prehistoric mounds and the spirits who lived there (Clarke 1991: 37).

So what exactly do we make of the folklore of British caves?

We generally aren’t designed to live underground, so caves offer a sense of mystery and danger. Some of them may suffer from rock falls, you don’t always know where tunnels are going to go, and you don’t know if you go in if you’ll be able to come back out.

So it’s hardly surprising that we would have all these legends about strange things going on in them. But because people are less likely to go into them, they also make these phenomenal hiding places, which we saw with the smuggler’s caves a couple of weeks ago. You could hide things in them that other people wouldn’t necessarily go looking for.

But then these stories smashed into these other tales of Otherworldly creatures that live in these caves, such as dragons and brownies. I do think the fact that a lot of these caves were also used as burial sites, either intentionally or otherwise, says a lot about the way that people used caves both as a means to enter the underworld, but also as sacred spaces. They become liminal in the way they’re open spaces while still being underground, which creates room for legend and folklore to emerge.

Which is your favourite cave-related legend? Let me know in the comments!

References

BBC (2014), ‘Scottish Wars of Independence’, BBC, https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/as/warsofindependence/info.shtml.

Brocklehurst, Steven (2013), ‘Who was Sawney Bean?’, BBC, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21506077.

Clarke, David (1991), Ghosts and Legends of the Peak District, Norwich: Jarrold Publishing.

Cope, Julian (2003), ‘Cheddar Gorge and Gough’s Cave’, The Modern Antiquarian, https://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/12389/folklore/cheddar_gorge_and_goughs_cave.html.

Crampton, Linda (2022), ‘Cheddar Cheese, Gorge, and Caves and an Ancient Human’, Wander Wisdom, https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/Cheddar-Cheese-Gorge-and-Caves-Somerset-Treasures.

Johnson, Ben (no date), ‘Sawney Bean – Scotland’s most famous cannibal’, Historic UK, https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Sawney-Bean-Scotlands-most-famous-cannibal/.

Westwood, Jennifer, Simpson, Jacqueline (2005) The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England’s Legends, London: Penguin.