What began as a way to pass the time during the COVID-19 lockdown has spiralled into me posting transcripts of Richard Blakeborough’s stories, originally published in early 20th-century local newspapers. These stories are scattered all over this site, so I thought, why not gather them together? This is a first draft, and frankly, I am surprised I have done so many.
Blakeborough, born in Ripon, attended St. Agnesgate Grammar School and developed an interest in the folklore and dialect of Yorkshire at an early age. He became a member of the Folklore Society, the Ripon Archaeological and Scientific Societies, and the Yorkshire Dialect Society. He was also a close associate of the Rev. John Christopher Atkinson (1814–1900), another Yorkshire dialect enthusiast.
Blakeborough did not merely recycle what others had written. He conducted his own fieldwork, compiling collections of Yorkshire dialect literature for public and private readings. He also wrote poems, tales, and several plays, publishing them in books, pamphlets, and newspapers.
- Elfi The Dwarf — The Story Told at Ye Sign of the Fox & Hounds, Urra
- The Witch-Mare of Orra [Urra]
- A Buried Treasure
- Betty Strother
- The White Maid of Kilton Castle
- Butterset Boggles
- The Ghost of Stokesley Town End
- A Goathland Witch (Draft)
- A Kepwick Mystery
- The Weird Mystery of the Moor — A Guisborough Legend
- Au’d Nan o’ Sexhow
- The Kildale Spectres
- The Falconer and the Whorlton Elves
- Dolly the Victim
- Nan Hardwicke (not a full transcript?)
- Andrew Carter: A Story of Canny Yatton 270 Years Ago
- Sarkless Kitty
- Nanny Newgill, the Broughton Witch
- Nanny Newgill, the Broughton Witch — Part II
- The Hobman of Upleatham
- Jennet o’ t’ Dales
- The Maid of the Golden Shoon
- The Wicked Squire of Basedale