28: Mabinogion Branch 2, Part 1: Branwen

A Ghost Story episode for Christmas from the pen of.... well not the master teller of ghost stories. In 1911 Elliot O'Donnell released Scottish Ghost Stories. It was reviewed in the Observer alongside MR James's new work published at about the same time - More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. Of Scottish Ghost Stories the observer reviewer had this to say: "Beside Dr James’s Mr O’Donnell’s ghost stories are foolish and and feeble things… if any of the bogles whom Mr Donnel has now expounded in five volumes have any basis [in fact] we can only commiserate the ordinary ghost on its tameness, sameness and generally imperfect equipment of horror as compared with the eerie and ingenious spectres of Dr James." So of course in this episode I tell Elliot O'Donnell ghost story - which is distinctly Scottish. I hope you enjoy this imperfect equipment of horror nonetheless. Musical credits and sources at: https://talesofbritainandireland.com/episode-57-the-ghosts-of-donaldgowerie-house/ #GhostStory #Folklore #mythsandlegends 

Tales of Mermaids in the Peak District - notably far from the sea, also featuring Sailors, Witches and Watches, discussions of mermaid biology and by far my longest discussion section to date. If you like muddy holes and wet fishy women then this is the podcast episode that you've been waiting for. For sources and more information see the episode page on the website at https://talesofbritainandireland.com/episode-56-peak-mermaid/ #Folklore #Mythology #Folktales #Mermaids #Peakdistrict.

A bloody Scottish tale featuring a locked room mystery, something fishy, unusual naming conventions (women only), and a little ENM to top it off.  Musical credits, sources and more on the episode page at Tales of Britain and Ireland.com #Folklore #Folktale #Fairytale #Storytelling #mythology #legends #celticlegend #celticmyth

Returning with a splash, this episode I'm telling one of my favourite Irish tales. We're on the west coast and knives are out, the waves are rolling in, there's weird women and weddings, strange things lurk in deep waters and perhaps by the end of the story we'll finally answer the age old question: is everything really better down where it's wetter? Musical credits, sources and more at: https://talesofbritainandireland.com/episode-54-the-knife-against-the-wave/ #Folklore #Myths #Legends #IrishFolklore

A bonus Halloween episode featuring a very well known terrifying tale of a supernatural encounter in Cumbria. Featuring: Victorians!  A perfectly named gothic villain, who is not a villain! A surprising Irish detour! Unnecessary speculation and intimation on my behalf! And an image which has haunted the nightmares of generations of English children. Or at the very least... mine. Have a great Halloween and Samhain everyone, hope you enjoy this trip to the incredibly pleasing to say... Croglin Grange. Musical credits and sources at: Tales of Britain and Ireland: Croglin Grange #Folklore #Myths #Legends #Storytelling

This time we've an appropriately huge episode of tales about British Giants - all stuck together with a vague framing narrative involving the surprising return of one of the podcasts greatest villains/misunderstood just getting on with his life dudes to date. On the way we'll take in tiny elephants, wulvers, a mermaid, simps, cobblers, tall tales, unfortunate seagulls and slave driving saints in an episode suitably scaled for the topic. For sources and more visit the episode page on the website: https://talesofbritainandireland.com/episode-52-Giants/ #mythology #folkore #legends #folktales # Legends

A very special episode - the podcast's first ever expert discussion section! An interview with the world's leading boggart expert Dr Simon Young answering questions like what are boggarts, where would you find them, why do they look nothing like what we think of as Boggarts today? Followed by a very short story section about a boggart that isn't really a boggart. Just to round things off. Sources, musical credits and boggart artwork on the website https://talesofbritainandireland.com/episode-50-boggarts/   #Folklore #Mythology

The 50th episode! A huge milestone for me and I'm using it to concentrate on one of my favourite topics I've only touched on so far: Boggarts.  Boggarts abound in this selection of accounts featuring a surprising variety of supernatural sights - shrieking spectres, ghostly geese, inflatable sheep, ineffective graves and much much more.  Come to Boggartdom, meet the feeorin and found out more synonyms for terror than you ever thought you'd need!  Sources, musical credits and boggart artwork on the website https://talesofbritainandireland.com/episode-50-boggarts/ #folklore #storytelling

This episode we've a nice normal fairy story about Elves, and one boy's bloody Tarantino-esque quest to get his ball back (and maybe something else as well? I forget.) For sources and more visit the episode page on the website: https://talesofbritainandireland.com/episode-49-Childe-Rowland/   #mythology #folkore #legends #folktales

This episode we're off to Glasgow - the largest city in Scotland, for stories about Saints and Monsters set along the river, by turns in a Dear Green Place and a gritty, deadly urban sprawl. Hear stories involving necromantic powers, cuckolding, fish, school children, dental operations gone wrong and all the other usual suspects. For sources and more visit the episode page on the website: https://talesofbritainandireland.com/episode-48-glasgow-gold-green-and-iron/   #mythology #folkore #legends #folktales