Giants, witches and black-eyed dogs…

Yorkshire’s forgotten folk and fairy tales are recovered in a new book by academic librarian Andrew Walsh

A YORKSHIRE stalked by ravenous, one-eyed giants, haunted by malevolent boggarts and terrorised by a black dog with eyes the size of saucers has been recovered from the mists of folklore by a researcher at the University of Huddersfield.

Witches, fairies, dragons and King Arthur’s knights – sleeping away the centuries in a vault below Richmond Castle – join the cast of a collection compiled and adapted by Andrew Walsh, an academic librarian at the University who is also an educationalist and recipient of a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship.

But his latest publishing project came about when he sought bedtime stories for his young children.  “I wanted to tell them Yorkshire fairytales, but it was frustrating trying to find them,” said Andrew.

The Victorians came to his aid.  In the late 1800s, antiquarians and folklorists were diligent collectors who liked to reinvent and revisit their history.  Librarian Andrew uncovered many sources of Yorkshire tales retold in the 19th century and he compiled an anthology of more than 50.  After successfully seeking crowdfunding, he has now published Forgotten Yorkshire Folk and Fairy Tales.

“Most of the stories are pretty much as I found them in out-of-copyright sources, and I have touched them up as little as possible.  But some were in quite a thick dialect and I have stripped out a lot of that to make the tales more accessible,” he said.

“A lot of them are more adult stories than children’s stories!” added Andrew.  His anthology includes giants with a taste for human flesh.  The devil is at large in some of the tales, and there are encounters with the fearsome barguest – the legendary black dog of Yorkshire folklore.

Farmers are tormented by boggarts and hobs and a shape-shifting witch makes blood-curdling curses from her cave near Whitby.  Locations for the stories include Malhamdale, Knaresborough, Grassington, Marsden and Beverley, plus Andrew Walsh’s own patch in the Huddersfield area.

One of the tales is his own elaboration of a legend told about Castle Hill, in which a boy descends a mysterious staircase and encounters an ancient lady who has been guarding a golden cradle for hundreds of years.  A huge serpent appears, but the boy – following the sound of his barking dog on the outside – manages to make his escape.

The new book – which includes a list of sources for the folk tales – is also studded with traditional rhymes, such as A Guide to West Riding Towns that might raise a few hackles….

Bradford for cash

Halifax for dash

Wakefield for pride and poverty

Huddersfield for show

Sheffield what’s low

Leeds for dirt and vulgarity

Forgotten Yorkshire Folk and Fairy Tales has illustrations of fairies, giants, witches and strange creatures specially commissioned from Irish artist Jane Carkill.  Subscribers to the crowdfunding campaign have received their copies of the book and it is now available to order from bookshops and online booksellers – ISBN number 9781911500155.