Subterranean Folk Tales

Billy Evans

Billy Evans

Member
Hi all,

For part of my degree I have been tasked with writing a "Ghost Story". Not my thing, but I'm planning on basing it on existing native folk tales and doing something with it. I was wondering if anybody knows of any folklore (ideally supernatural, but not necessarily) relating to caves or potholes in England or Wales.

The Witch of Wookey Hole is the obvious one, and if anybody has any historical sources for the origin of the myth please let me know, but if there's anything else a bit more esoteric I would prefer it.

Any help or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Billy :)
 
Try the tale of The Little Man. Message me if you don't know about it. Otherwise perhaps you can do something relating to Andrew Crosse.
 
Not British but Tales of Dirt, Danger and Darkness by Paul Jay Steward is a good read, might trigger some inspiration. It's a collection of short stories, all caving related.

Published by Greyhound Press in the USA
Library of Congress Catalogue Cartd Number 98-71069
ISBN 0-9663547-0-2
 
King Arthur and his knights are waiting in a big cave under Alderley Edge for the hour of England's greatest peril
ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com

Alderley Edge-King Arthur

In England no fewer than three saviours lie waiting for our hour of peril; The Duke of Monmouth, King Harold and inevitably King Arthur. Somewhat confusingly King Arthur lies in three different pla…
ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com
You'd think he might have popped out in 1940 for the Battle of Britain?
 
There is a folk tale of the goose which fell down Eldon Hole and later emerged from Peak Cavern with its feathers singed (by the infernal flames)
ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com

Eldon Hole.

Eldon Hole is known as one of the seven wonders of the Peak district, and at 245 feet in depth it well deserves this title, the other six wonders of the Peak district are Peak Cavern, Poole’s…
ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com
 
Billy Evans said:
Hi all,

For part of my degree I have been tasked with writing a "Ghost Story". Not my thing, but I'm planning on basing it on existing native folk tales and doing something with it. I was wondering if anybody knows of any folklore (ideally supernatural, but not necessarily) relating to caves or potholes in England or Wales.

The Witch of Wookey Hole is the obvious one, and if anybody has any historical sources for the origin of the myth please let me know, but if there's anything else a bit more esoteric I would prefer it.

Any help or a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Billy :)
Click to expand...
Re: Wookey, vide: https://www.ubss.org.uk/resources/proceedings/vol25/UBSS_Proc_25_1_47-73.pdf
page 14 (60) onwards refers
 
Boggarts live in caves. There are some caves where sumps can sometimes slurp/glug and if that's near enough the cave entrance so people could hear it'd lead to stories. I think some live in here: https://cncc.org.uk/cave/boggarts-roaring-holes so be careful in case they play with the rigging while you're down the hole

Coblynau live in mines in Wales if that's any help, a Coblyn once threw a stone at my head sideways across a cavern, so I give them healthy respect. (Coblynau is plural, so it's 1 Coblyn, several Coblynau)

Edit: just noticed Lankyman already mentioned boggarts
 
Lankyman said:
There is a folk tale of the goose which fell down Eldon Hole and later emerged from Peak Cavern with its feathers singed (by the infernal flames)
ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com

Eldon Hole.

Eldon Hole is known as one of the seven wonders of the Peak district, and at 245 feet in depth it well deserves this title, the other six wonders of the Peak district are Peak Cavern, Poole’s…
ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com ludchurchmyblog.wordpress.com
Click to expand...
Eldon hole doesn't singe many geese these days, but apparently it eats small drones now and again that people think are a good idea to fly to try to see what's at the bottom.
 
The "cave" at Knaresborough housed a "witch". Along with the petrifying spring you should be able to come up with something. Oldest tourist attraction in England I believe
 
Ian Ball said:
The "cave" at Knaresborough housed a "witch". Along with the petrifying spring you should be able to come up with something. Oldest tourist attraction in England I believe
Click to expand...
That'll be Mother Shipton who prophesied all sorts of stuff that was uncannily precise (like the world ending in 1881). Her prediction about Spurs going down is yet to be borne out.
en.wikipedia.org

Mother Shipton - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
Rumbling Hole is also known as the Faeries' Workshop, apparently because they can be heard working their tools in the depths. But I can't find any source for this other than caving club trip reports, so perhaps it's just modern cavers retro-embellishing things. Unless there's something in Balderstone's Ingleton: Bygone and Present
 
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