Tag: Richard Blakeborough
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Elfi The Dwarf — The Story Told at Ye Sign of the Fox & Hounds, Urra
The notion of transcribing these ancient folk tales of Richard Blakeborough, thought to be a splendid idea at first, an idea born during the Covid lockdown, now gnaws at my conscience with growing unease. Recent reports detailing the modification of Roald Dahl’s cherished works, altering words deemed offensive and rewriting character descriptions in an attempt…
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Aysgill Force — The Butterset Boggles
A brief stroll up Sleddale a side valley off Wensleydale, tracing the course of Gayle Beck, led us to the delightful Aysgill Force. En route, we passed through Gayle, a village woven into one of folklorist Richard Blakeborough’s yarns. It kicks off with a birth prophecy, throws in unrequited love, a spurned admirer, a murderous…
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The Ghost of Stokesley Town End
Yet another tale spun by the industrious quill of Cleveland’s venerable chronicler, Richard Blakeborough. This piece has lingered on my to-do list, biding its time for a fitting photograph. Regrettably, my patience has waned. Let this image of Aireyholme and Cliff Rigg suffice. Look closely, and the roof tops of Stokesley reveal themselves in the…
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The Weird Mystery of the Moor — A Guisborough Legend
Here’s another story by Richard Blakeborough, published in the Whitby Gazette on May 5th, 1905. I’m not sure if they’re too long to share on this blog, but I’m really interested in them, especially the ones about places I know such as this one about Guisborough Moor where I can picture the landscapes. Some of…
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The Kildale Spectres
Another one of the old folk tales collected by Richard Blakeborough and published in the Northern Weekly Gazette in July 1901. THE KILDALE SPECTRES. By RICHARD BLAKEBOROUGH. The first part of this story, so far as the source from which it sprang is concerned, has not passed through many lips, seeing that the father of…
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The Falconer and the Whorlton Elves
Prepare to be delighted and delectated by another tale from that master wordsmith of the North Riding of Yorkshire: Richard Blakeborough (1850-1918), writer, poet, and dramatist. Now, I did have a notion to modernise this story for you, but I quickly found myself struggling by how to handle some of the terms, such as “dark-faced”…