To some, Herne the Hunter is a ghost associated with Windsor Great Park. He haunts the tree where he did, rattling his chains and raging against…well…something. Elsewhere, Herne is portrayed as a demonic force tearing through the forest at speed, scooping up souls in the Wild Hunt. Some tales see him riding a coal-black horse […]
british folklore
British Big Cats: Ice Age Survivors or Escaped Illicit Pets?
After the wolf became extinct in Britain, the badger became “Britain’s largest native carnivore” (Goss 1992: 184). Yet that hasn’t stopped people from claiming the existence of mysterious British big cats in the countryside. They’re also referred to as alien big cats. Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud note the existence of 304 press items from […]
Brân the Blessed: The Talking Head to Protect Britain
We’ve been looking at the ‘King in the Mountain‘ folklore trope this month. We’ve had Frederick Barbarossa, sleeping beneath a German mountain. Or King Arthur, asleep under Sewingshields Castle in Northumberland. And Sir Francis Drake, awaiting the summons of his drum near Plymouth. This week, we’re looking at Brân the Blessed – another slightly different […]
