Jo Woolf

‘’On a winter’s evening, with mist moving like a cold breath between the stones, it’s easy to imagine that the old spirits still walk here. Even in relatively recent times, children tiptoed up to the chamber and listened for the clink of a smith’s hammer; so did their ancestors, stretching back in an unbroken line for a thousand years, to the time of the Anglo-Saxons. King Alfred himself knew the tale and versions of it were told in feasting halls across Northern Europe.’’

Be on your guard and tread silently for King Arthur and his knights sleep beneath St Michael’s Mount, awaiting the day when the realm will need them once more. Look for the traces of the Arthurian saga in Tintagel and Lyonesse. In West Devon, where Saint Michael crushed the Devil, a formidable church protects the land. At the same time, in Dartmoor druids, ghosts and hounds from Hell add to the mysticism and eerieness of the landscape that inspired the finest Sherlock Holmes mystery The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Who hasn’t marvelled at the sight of Cerne Giant in Dorset? Who hasn’t felt the aura of spirituality, and tranquillity in Glastonbury? Who hasn’t heard the whispers of the past while gazing at Glastonbury Tor? As the sun rises over Stonehenge, the stones sing the silent song of ages lost in the mist of time along with their distant cousins in Avebury. The trees of Chanctonbury Ring hide dark secrets, screams and wails and rituals of the Devil and the White Cliffs of Dover murmur their British lullaby of pride and everlasting might.

The Wild Hunt, the legend of Robin Hood and his Merry Men in the Sherwood Forest, Gogmagog, the Sutton Hoo helmet, the Great Stone of Lyng that bleeds echoing the bloodshed of sacrifices and battles, the Green Men, the secrets of Alderley Edge, Mayburgh Henge and King Arthur’s Round Table, Blencathra and the tale of Excalibur.

‘’The King is gone from Bambrough castle:
Long may the Princess mourn,
Long may she stand on the castle wall,
Looking for his return.’’
(Trad. ballad credited to Robert Lambe, from William Hutchinson’s A View of Northumberland, 1778)

Bamburgh Castle holds the keys to a mythic past from Lancelot’s Joyous Guard to battles of freedom and conquest. Bran’s head secures the safety of the realm, Deirdre and Naoise find refuge in Alba before the tragic end of their story, Diarmuid and Grainne’s legend begins in Ben Gulabin. The terrifying Cailleach brings cold and sadness into people’s hearts, while Ben Macdui is haunted by a dark presence that makes brave men flee in terror. In Calanais, in the Hebrides, a mysterious figure walks down the path towards the stones on the summer solstice, visiting the giants that refused to build a church and were turned to stone.

This is only a mere handful of the legends that can be found in this extraordinary book. Jo Woolf invites us on a journey to the myths of England, Scotland and Wales, a haunting dance within the recesses of a past so distant, yet ever-present in European culture. Embellished with illustrations by Claire Harrup, this gem should definitely find a place in your bookcase.

‘’But remember that, when England is in peril, King Arthur and his knights will wake and ride out valiantly across the plain.’’

Many thanks to National Trust Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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