Tag: folklore
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The Rose of Rosebery
In this delightful piece written back in 1900, Richard Blakeborough recounts the peculiar practice of ‘Standing the Church.’ Now, this particular punishment bears an uncanny resemblance to the tradition of ‘Charivari,’ ‘Rough Music,’ or, as Northerners called it, ‘Riding the Stang.’ Since the late 17th century, the terms have commonly been employed to describe a…
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Nan Hardwicke — Witch or Hare? The Folklore of Cleveland
There are very few Cleveland villages which, at one time or another, one of the inhabitants had not been stigmatised as a witch. More often than not, it was some lonely old woman, past her childbearing age, probably widowed but more than likely without any degree of patriarchal protection. The most celebrated of these witches…
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Black Hambleton
The glooming mass of the flat-topped Black Hambleton, the northern end of the calcareous Tabular Hills that range from Roulston Scar in the south. Climbing up to its right is Hambleton Street, part of the drover’s road that once extended from Scotland along which cattle were driven to be sold at the markets of York,…
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Boundary stone on Stanghow Moor
Exploring hob country, the area of moorland south-east of Guisborough. This early 19th-century boundary stone marks an old parish boundary between Guisborough and Stanghow. It is about half way between Hob on the Hill and Hob Cross, which names denote a connection with those mischievious sprites that are supposedly the descendants of prehistoric inhabitants. The…
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Sarkless Kitty
In 2015, I posted ‘The Sad Tale of Sarkless Kitty‘, a harrowing story of a woman from Gillamoor who, allegedly having been romanced and forsaken by a farmer from Hutton-le-Hole, was supposed to have ended her own life in the shallow waters of the ford that crosses the River Dove while carrying his unborn child.…
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Nanny Newgill, the Broughton Witch — Part II
Back on the Cleveland Hills after a few days break. I was reminded crossing Urra Moor that I need to post the second part of Richard Blakeborough’s 1902 tale of Nanny Newgill, the Broughton Witch. For Part I see here. NANNY NEWGILL, THE BROUGHTON WITCH. SYNOPSIS OF PART I. Dinah Curry, a Broughton girl, marries…
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Stepping stone crossing of the River Doe at Beezleys
I wasn’t tempted to risk a crossing but was content to watch a dipper hopping across the stones. The River Doe is quite short, rising near Chapel-le-Dale and becoming the Greta after its confluence with the Twiss at Ingleton. Soon after these stepping stones the river plunges down a narrow gorge with several waterfalls —…
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Nanny Newgill, the Broughton Witch
On a drizzly Cold Moor this morning I was reminded of one of Richard Blakeborough’s tales about a witch who lived at Broughton. That’s Great Broughton on the Cleveland plain below, just left of centre. The peak of Roseberry Topping is on the skyline just right of centre. Blakeborough’s story appeared in the Northern Weekly…
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Concerning the ghost of a man of Ayton in Cleveland
I’ve been saving this little story up hoping to come across a suitable image to accompany it. It came back to me today, and finding inspiration, I have given up waiting. But first, the featured image is, of course, of Roseberry Topping, “t’ biggest hill i’ all Yorkshur” that overlooks the village of Great Ayton.…
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Today is Tharcake Monday
In the Northern counties, the first Monday after Halloween is Tharcake Monday. Lancashire seems to have claimed the monopoly for this cake which originally made of unfermented dough — chiefly meals of rye, barley and pea, mixed with milk or water— rolled very thin, and baked hard in the oven. But the tradition is also…