Old Weird Britain @oldweirdbritain Twitter profile

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

Today is June 24th, St John's Day Jump over a bonfire holding hands with your lover. Your love will last all year. Save the ash from your fire. It will protect crops from lightening storms.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

Mary Whyddon was shot dead on her wedding day in 1641 as she emerged from #Chagford Church. To this day, brides who marry in our church leave flowers on her tomb. This example of #livingfolklore was photographed last week. #Dartmoor #Devon

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Old Weird Britain

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4 years

A tree grew in England in Anglo-Saxon times. Sometime after 1032, it was felled. A carpenter created a door from its wood. The door opened into a small room in a building on a natural island, then south of London. This was Westminster Abbey. The door is the oldest in the UK.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Just one moment past, a dozen wild #Dartmoor ponies trot-trotted past my house. Like a #faerie troop. #Magical .

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Persons unworthy of baptism: magicians enchanters astrologers magical charmers idle and wandering beggars makers of amulets and phylacteries dealers in heathenish lustrations soothsayers observers of signs and omens interpreters of palpitations observers of the motions of weasels

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

In 1916, Edith Olivier, English writer, drove into #Avebury for the first time. She was charmed by a misty avenue of looming megaliths. She watched a fair in the rain. Later, she discovered the last fair had been held in 1850. The avenue had disappeared before 1800.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

April 24th: St Mark's Eve At midnight you may see a procession in your local churchyard of those folk who will die in the year ahead. "How, when the midnight signal tolls, Along the churchyard green A mournful train of sentenced souls In winding-sheets are seen." #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

I spotted this strange little door in a street corner in Dorchester today. #Dorset

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

The #Kingmoor ring could be the original inspiration for #LordoftheRings . One of only seven known #AngloSaxon runic rings, it was found in 1817 and the inscription is probably a #magic #spell . Today lorries thunder past its former resting place: Junction 44 of the M6.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

Buried with a book! In 698 this book bound in red goatskin was interred with St Cuthbert at #Lindisfarne . Vikings raided. The monks fled, carrying the saint's coffin for seven years. In 1104 it was opened; the book was found. The oldest intact European book. #BritishLibrary

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

There is a lake in #Wales where a door can be found within a rock. It opens once a year on May Day. From that door, one can make one's way to the garden of the fairies, which is an island in the middle of the lake. This paradise of exquisite bliss is invisible from the shore.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

Enchanting 13thC names for the #hare : Old Turpin Stag of the Cabbages Furze Cat Old Goibert Dew Hopper Old Big Bum Friendless One Stag with the Leathery Hornes Old Wimount Cat of the Wood Fellow-in-the-Dew Love to y’all on this bright #Easter Day! xxx #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

Ben Loyal is an isolated #Scottish mountain. It is a so-called 'magnetic mountain' capable of distorting compass readings. Scientists say it's full of iron ore. but tradition says Ben Loyal has a great furnace at its heart in which #dwarves smelt their metal. #FolkloreThursday

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

It is very dangerous to sleep out in the open air in May, for the faeries are very powerful then. They are on the watch to carry off handsome girls for fairy brides, young mothers as nurses for fairy babies; and young men as husbands for the beautiful fairy princesses. #faerie

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

I was unexpectedly snowed in at the weekend with two gay friends and two huge wolfhounds in this fine old house, once the home of Prince Madoc of Powys, and built on the site of an old Druid stronghold. We hunkered down with wine, cheese and Tennyson by the fire.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Dear ones, I am down in the woods with wine and cake. If any of you would like me to whisper your name or a loved one’s name into the #MayDay fire for good luck, write it below. I will whisper it with sincere intention for you. xx

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

On her deathbed, Lady Isabella of Limerstone Manor asked that land be set aside to provide for the poor. Her husband gave her a burning brand, saying “Only as much as you can encircle as this burns.” She crawled round a plot of 23 acres, still known as ‘The Crawels’. #IsleofWight

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

Dear ones, for today’s 4.00pm teatime tweet, here’s a photo (taken just now) of the fairyfort in Pigwiggen Wood, my little patch of #Dartmoor Woodland. I have a vision in the years ahead to slowly manage this hidden valley not just for #biodiversity , but for #enchantment .

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 months

My dad died last September. Please forgive the break in daily folklore tweets. I'm looking forward to resuming as soon as I have the headspace. Here's mum and dad. They were married for 64 years, and were laughing together like teenagers until their very last day. ❤️

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

Never speak contemptuously of #Dartmoor pixies. Never doubt their power. They may punish you. Visitations from the pixies have invariably compelled the scoffers to acknowledge themselves to be in the wrong and to be careful how they spoke of the fairy elves in the future.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

The ancient Minster Church lies hidden in a #Cornish woodland. A sacred place for centuries, it's built on the site of a #holywell , and dedicated to a #Welsh #princess , St Materiana, daughter of Vortimer, son of Vortigern, King of #Britain in the 5th century.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

Please retweet to help raise awareness of the plight of Gwydir Castle’s ancient trees. They are slowly drowning. An anti-flooding scheme upstream now shunts flood water into the Grade 1 listed garden. Thank you for caring.

Gwydir Castle

@JudyCorbett

6 years

One of Gwydir's venerable, old #yew trees we're trying to protect from flooding. The Lover's Tree said to be over 1000 years old. There are over 82 #TreePreservationOrders in the garden. Worth protecting? Last week @WelshGovernment said not. We'll keep on sandbagging...

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

#Solstice blessings to all, dear precious souls. May the memory of these magical long summer evenings stay with us as the great Wheel of the Year turns. May there be days of wine and roses and nights of stars and firelight.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

I played my harp in an ancient Saxon chapel today at Bickleigh, Devon. It was so atmospheric and magical with the candles flickering in the half light, reflecting on the gold of the harp. The sound of the river mingled with the sound of the music.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

7 years

The Romans described the Early English people as "fluminibus aut silviis muniuntur" (fortified with rivers and forests.)

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

3 months

It’s been 9 months since Dad died. I miss him terribly. I built a fire in Pigwiggen Wood, and sat for a long time in the evening light. It felt healing and magical. #pigwiggenwood

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Tonight is #FullMoon Run nine times round a fairy ring of mushrooms on the night of the full moon. You will hear sounds of mirth and revelry from the subterranean abode of the elves, who make this their dancing-green. #faery #fungi

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Nothing can prepare you for the impact of seeing the actual #AngloSaxon 'Alfred Jewel'. It's a ninth century masterpiece of the goldsmith's art, a thing of breathtaking beauty and finesse. It was ploughed up in a field in 1693. #Ashmolean

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

Dear Folkloric Friends, I am off to the woods to camp! No phone or internet Wild cooking Foraging Harping in the twilight Owls and badgers Hot chocolate under the stars. The daily 4.00pm tweets of old British weirdness will resume on Tuesday. Love you all! xxx

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

The whole area around the Fairy Steps in #Cumbria is haunted by fairies. Steep steps are hewn from a deep fissure in the cliff. Irregular, sinuous, narrow. If you can hop up them without touching the sides of the cleft, the #fairies will grant you a wish. #FolkloreThursday

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Tea-drinking Witches of Twitter! Two Questions for You: 1. Why do you love tea? 2. What's your favourite tea?

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

3 years

The Major Oak in #SherwoodForest still clings to life after a thousand years. It's Britain's largest #oak tree. Tradition tells how #RobinHood and his merry men met under this tree, and hid from the Sheriff of #Nottingham in its hollow trunk. #treelore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Behold this acorn sixpence! The oak is woven into our mythical identity with the land. Once upon a time it was frequently represented in our culture. Now, the word ACORN has been dropped from the Junior Oxford Dictionary to make room for words like celebrity and broadband.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

King Arthur lies within this hollow hill in a cavern closed by golden gates. Sometimes they open, and he can be seen inside. #CadburyCastle , #Somerset . #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

I bought this bonkers antique chair today! Handcrafted Victorian needlepoint with an image of some bearded old Druid dude playing a harp. And I’m sitting on it now with my feet all toasty by the fire! I just had to raid my ‘Fun and Frivolities’ account! 🙂

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

10 months

Seaweed growing on rocks above the low-water mark is known as 'tang' in #Scotland . The water-spirit known as the #Tangie (from tang, the seaweed with which he is covered) appears sometimes as a horse, sometimes as a little man.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

There is a white door in the side of the mountain of #BenBulben . It swings open at nightfall to loose the faery riders upon the world. #faery #folklore #Sligo

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

In the dim kingdom there is a great abundance of all excellent things. There is more love there than upon the earth. There is more dancing there than upon the earth. There is more treasure there than upon the earth. #faerie #Yeats Image: #BrianFroud

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

I just heard a cuckoo on the top of Dartmoor! I’m driving home from a recital, and stopped to take a photo of this ancient granite cross. Absolute silence up here. Just the cuckoo, the moon and the sunset.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

#Witch -bottle found in #Westminster ! In 1904 an old jug was found ten feet below street level in the bed of an old mill stream. Inside: 1. a piece of red cloth, cut neatly into a heart shape and stuck full of brass pins 2. a small quantity of human hair 3. some nail parings."

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

I implore you not to observe the sacrilegious customs of the #pagans . Let no one do ridiculous, ancient, and disreputable things, such as dancing, or keeping open house all night, or getting drunk. Let no one utter loud cries when the #moon is pale. - Saint Eligius, 588-660AD

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

#Neldoracht = the magical skill of divining the future from looking at clouds and the flights of birds. #folklore #druid #englishmagic

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Kissing banned in England! In July 1439, kissing was banned in England to stop the #plague from spreading.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

There is no lasting union between humans and faeries. The seal wife always finds her skin in the end and returns to the sea. The Gwragedd Annwn [Welsh lake maidens] always leave their husbands. But sometimes there are children born with #faerie blood in their veins. #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

Tomorrow is #Lammas , Festival of the First Fruits. Dear friends, may you reap bountiful harvests in your own lives. Thank you for being part of @oldweirdbritain ❤️ Harvest feasts were known as “horkeys”

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

Bramble bushes were once deliberately planted on graves to keep the dead from walking. #folklore #blackberry

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

Long, long ago, when all the world was young, the strangest things often came to pass. Faeryfolk still lived in the greenwoods. Elves sang and danced in the soft summer dawns. Trees could sing and flowers could speak. Birds would carry messages about the world.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

A #Scottish #fairy #dog : The Cu Sith (coo-shee) is a huge Highland hound of the Otherworld. It differs from other fairy hounds in being dark green in colour. Its baying (three tremendous bays in succession) can be heard by ships far out at sea. #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Today is Old May Eve. Those who stick resolutely to the pre-1752 Old Calender celebrate their Beltane rites today. #folklore

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@oldweirdbritain

5 years

Anglo-Saxon #culture blows me away - it’s a breathtaking synthesis resulting from tribes migrating here from #Europe and mixing with indigenous #British peoples. Here’s an Anglo-Saxon gold ring engraved with runes. It was found in Cumbria. #AngloSaxon #britishmuseum

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

#BrailesHill was valued by our prehistoric ancestors. The #RollrightStones were positioned so that the hill is due north on a true meridian from the site. Indeed Rollright is precisely the southernmost point from which Brailes Hill can be seen.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

With love and blessings to all at the equinox, a time of balance and gratitude for the year's harvest so far. I'll be at the #RollrightStones this afternoon for the #MABON celebration hosted by those lovely folk, Watchers of the Old Ways. #Oxfordshire

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

On summer evenings a glorious magic ray of golden light shoots through my woodland. It lasts but a few magical minutes. I am truly blessed to have this small corner of #Dartmoor entrusted to my care.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

incredible and moving account of #bees attending their beekeeper's #funeral . #folklore #beelore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

Kittens born as the blackberry season ends are called 'Blackberry Cats' and are especially mischievous in their youth. They're connected with the legend of the #Devil 's Fall to earth at #Michaelmas . Image: Jean Bradbury #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Happy Solstice dear friends! The year turns. The days lengthen. This is the magical remaking, the birth of life and light. In this enchanted season we gathered in #PigwiggenWood for socially distanced hot soup and homemade cranberry bread. And mead. And there was a rainbow.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

“Imagine a fairy train spread from mountain peak to mountain peak, as far as the eye can see.” - Alfred Watkins, 1925 In 1921, Watkins coined the term ‘leylines’ after noticing how ancient sites seemed to lie across the landscape in straight lines.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

Walk down the lane heading north from the Anglo-Saxon St Swithun's Church, Shobrooke. You will find a magical #holywell . The earliest record is in church accounts of 1576 – ‘Paid for making clene of the well and pavynge, xxd’. It is still decorated at harvest time. #devon

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

The Return of the Raven King There is an ancient tradition common in all the kingdom of #GreatBritain that #KingArthur did not die, but by arts of enchantment, was transformed into a #raven . In due course of time, he will return to reign. #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

Love to you all on this Sacred Day! I’m off to the snowy woods with my camera and a flask of Earl Grey tea. Because Spring is stirring beneath us, even as the snow falls. Image: Lisa Aisato #Imbolc #Candlemas #uksnow #StBride

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Long ago, the West Kennet Avenue of standing stones connected the famous Avebury Stone Circle with the mysterious Sanctuary, 2.5km away. Archeological finds suggest elaborate death rites and ceremonies were enacted at the Sanctuary. So evocative a place. #Wiltshire

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

An old apple tree lives in the hedgerow on the edge of my woods. We wassailed him on Twelfth Night with spiced cider, and bread sweetened with honey from the woodland bees. Flickering candles in jam-jars lit the way. Any excuse to wear my scarlet top hat!

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

The locals call this ancient #Dartmoor track, 'The Black Prince's Path'. Why? I don't know. But a visiting friend saw a black knight riding a black horse right here. My friend did not know the name of the track. I told her. She went pale. #ghost

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

A séance held at #Sutton House discovered two #ghosts called Tim and George at loggerheads with each other. Public records later revealed two former tenants, both silk-weavers, who rented separate halves of the house in 1752. Their names? Timothy Ravenhill and George Garrett.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

Today is St Hilary’s Day, traditionally the coldest day of the year. In 1205 a cruel frost gripped England on this day. It lasted until March 22nd. Brrrrrr! #folklore #weatherlore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

There is an ancient stone preserved at Kingston-on-Thames upon which our #Saxon Kings were crowned. The #coronation stone is a #block of sarsen, the same stone used in the building of #Stonehenge and #Avebury . #folklorethursday

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

How to notify #bees of their owner's death: Strike the hives three times with the iron doorkey saying 'The Master is dead'. Image: Rima Staines @tilsamka #beelore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

For over 1,000 years anyone could seek sanctuary in a church. This is the Sanctuary Knocker at Durham Cathedral, once manned day and night by two monks who would instantly open the door to give food and rest to a fugitive. The ancient right to sanctuary was abolished in 1623.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

Mother Ludlam was a #Witch of benevolent temper who lived in a cave. Her former home is still known as 'Mother Ludlam's Hole'. A magical spring rises up within the cave. Faeries also once inhabited it. As did a hermit, but not at the same time as the witch. Obviously! #Surrey

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Sunshine is streaming in through my cottage windows!I’ve forgotten what it looked like. It’s even drowning out the fairy lights! What a sparkly start to my day’s harp practice.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

Three #bread #superstitions : 1. Always make a cross in the dough to redeem it from the powers of the devil. 2. Never sing whilst baking bread. 3. Avoid making bread when there's a corpse in the house. #FolkloreThursday

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

3 years

I am in the tiny hamlet of Nymet Tracey in #Devon . Nymet is an old word for Sacred Grove, and this was once a centre of #Druid worship with a 3000BC woodhenge. There is an extraordinary #owl sculpture on the rood screen in the ancient church. A mark of respect to the Old Ways?

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Bubonic plague on #Dartmoor . The Neolithic stone row at Merrivale served as a demarcation zone for farmers to leave food and provisions for #Tavistock townsfolk who, in turn, left money as payment. Info thanks to Emma @DartmoorsDaught Photo: Chris Marshall #folklore #devon

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

What a gal! St #Brigid could: 1. turn her bathwater into beer 2. transform rushes into edible fish 3. shapeshift herself into a snake. She was traditionally born at Faughart where her #holywell is still a place of pilgrimage. #folklore #imbolc #Ireland #Celtic

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

#Beltane Blessings to you all! Today was once a day of feasting, merriment, and 'immorality' dedicated to Robin Hood. Illegitimate babies conceived on #MayDay were know as 'sons of Robin'. Perhaps the origin of the surname, Robinson?

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

#Chester is one of the most haunted English cities. The George and Dragon is built on the site of a 1,600 year old Roman cemetery. Its upper floor echoes to the measured tread of a Roman legionary on eternal sentry duty. The footsteps pass through solid walls.

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6 years

In honour of #NationalBiscuitDay , raise a toast to the weirdest #British #biscuit of them all - the Biddenden Biscuit, featuring conjoined twins, the Biddenden Maids. #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

The #rose as symbol of secrecy. Some physic gardens have a rose carved over the entrance to preserve the secrets of the herbalist's art. Carved roses adorn certain rooms to remind people that secrets revealed therein should be kept secret. aka sub rosa = “under the rose”

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4 years

#Dartmoor (haunt of pixies and spectral hounds) also contains the largest concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in the United Kingdom. This is Down Tor Stone Circle and Stone Row, an ancient place of ritual. Photo: Ken Taylor. #folklore #Devon

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3 years

Imagine a tribal Britain... Old #Oswestry #IronAge Hillfort is one of the best-preserved hillforts in Britain. It's one of a dense band of hillforts in the Welsh Marches and was inhabited for almost 1,000 years. Image: #EnglishHeritage #HillfortsWednesday

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@oldweirdbritain

6 years

A #Faerie Hill Knock-Ma Hill is the home of Finvarra, #Irish Faerie King and King of the Dead. Archeological evidence reveals it to be the centre of a living, multi-period ceremonial landscape. And if that's not cool enough, Noah's granddaughter, Ceasair, is buried there too!

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

The kids have gone up to the pub, and I’m enjoying a sherry by the fire in my #Dartmoor cottage. It’s midnight. At this moment the cattle kneel in their stables to honour the holy birth. #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

3 years

I visited #SuttonHoo last week, site of the great #Anglo -Saxon ship burial. But what moved me most was learning that a beeswax lantern was left burning inside to give light to the dead king, as his burial chamber was sealed up. Photo: #NationalTrust

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

There was once a hunter called Bowerman who enjoyed terrorising the witches of #Dartmoor . But one witch turned herself into a #hare and led him on a wild chase into a trap. He was turned to stone. You can see him still. His petrified remains are known as Bowerman's Nose.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

A #Mermaid in a land-locked lake. A mermaid is trapped in windswept Blake Mere Pool high in the #Staffordshire hills. In the 19thC workmen tried to drain her home. She rose out of the water. Terrifying. She threatened to flood the town of #Leek and drown its entire populace.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

During #WW1 , whilst constructing an airfield at Llyn Cerrig Bach in the ancient #Druid island of #Anglesey , RAF Workers discovered a breathtaking hoard of iron and bronze artefacts. These treasures had been thrown into the lake as offerings to the gods. #FolkloreThursday

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@oldweirdbritain

5 years

No grass grows at the summit of Dragon's Hill in #Berkshire . St George slayed the dragon here. The poisonous blood of the beast destroyed the fertile soil. #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

North Wales is preeminently the land of #faerie . That distant country is the chosen abode of giants, monsters, magicians, and all the creatures of enchantment. #folklore #Snowdonia

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

@melissaFTW I made my first film at 45, and have now made nine films of British fairytales. I earn a living as a harpist, but my great passion is for the tales and folklore rooted in the British landscape. My energy, vitality, and innate joy are far higher than in my 20s. Good times! 🙂

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Castle Dore in #Cornwall is an Iron Age #hillfort said to be the court of King Mark in the tragic love story of 'Tristan and Iseult'. Excavations in 1935-6 revealed that, as legend says, it was occupied in Arthurian times. A great timber hall once stood here. #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

The Trent is a 'greedy' river, requiring seven lives a year. Tradition says that one of our indigenous British gods took refuge there when Christianity first arrived. Within living memory farmers sacrificed lambs to the river in the hope of sparing the life of a child. #folklore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

Summer Solstice Sunrise over #Dartmoor this morning. My old friend Emma and I (two middle aged women) stumble bleary-eyed up the Tor. “I’m too old for this shit!” says she. We share a picnic. The view makes us so happy.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

Love to you all on #Lammas Day, the Feast of First Fruits. This gorgeous stamp was one of a set of #folklore stamps issued by Royal Mail in 1981. The artist, Fritz Wegner, was a refugee who fled to England as a frightened 13yr old boy. He lived here all his life, much loved.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

"So it befell in the month of lusty May, that Queene Guinevere called unto her the Knyghtes of the Round Table, and gave them warning that early in the morning she should ride a-Maying into the woods and fields beside #Westminster ." #MayDay Blessings to all you lovely folk. xx

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

#Fairy Sighting in the #LakeDistrict Castle Howe is a natural volcanic 'lump' - the site of an #IronAge Hillfort. Little people dressed in green have been seen here. One man set his dog on them, but the dog turned back, afraid. The figures stepped into the earth. And vanished.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

5 years

The Wassail Bowl Families assemble around a bowl of spiced ale, decorated with ribbons. They toast each other with 'wass hael' = 'to your health', an ancient Saxon phrase. Hence the bowl is called the Wassail or Wassel-bowl.

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

1 year

Dear friends, Daily British folklore tweets resume #MayDay ! I needed to step back from twitter following a family bereavement. Celebrating the beauty of the seasons nourished my soul during this sad time. Here’s a nettle cake we shared at a Spring Equinox tea in #PigwiggenWood .

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

4 years

There is a word in #OldEnglish for the land that remains after its trees have been cleared away: FELDON It reminds me of that phrase we find in #fairytales : "fell down dead". #treelore

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Old Weird Britain

@oldweirdbritain

6 years

We are now in the DOG DAYS or worm-month when #Sirius the Dog Star rises with the sun. (3rd July - 11th August) #folklore

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